German inflation stays flat in February at 2.3 percent: data
BERLIN
Germany's inflation rate remained stable in February at 2.3 percent, preliminary data showed Friday, leaving the door open for the European Central Bank to ease rates at its meeting next week.
The annual inflation rate in Europe's largest economy was in line with the expectations of analysts surveyed by financial data firm FactSet.
Energy prices fell 1.8 percent in February from the month last year, while food prices rose 2.4 percent over the same period, according to federal statistics agency Destatis.
The core inflation rate, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, was 2.6 percent in February, down from 2.9 percent in the previous month.
Slowing core inflation in Germany will be closely watched at the ECB, where the focus has moved from curbing inflation towards stimulating the eurozone's weak economy.
Sebastian Becker, an economist at Deutsche Bank, said the fall in core figure was larger than expected, calling it "positive".
He noted, however, that it reflected the state of Germany's stagnant economy, putting the drop down to sagging price pressures on industrial goods and machinery.
The data would likely strengthen the case for another eurozone rate cut next week, said Stephanie Schoenwald, an economist at public lender KfW.
"These data will encourage the ECB to maintain its accommodative monetary policy for now, and the likelihood of another interest rate cut in March is high," she said.
