According to a flash estimate issued by Eurostat, inflation in the EU is set to rise from 1.9% in February to 2.5% in March. The rise is mainly attributed to rising oil and gas prices. Eurostat is estimating that Malta’s inflation rate will remain flat at 2.3% given that fuel and electricity prices have remained flat in March due to government subsidies.
However, Malta’s figure is only an estimate yet, with no official data submitted, and the estimate may be ignoring a potential rise in food prices which in Malta have been consistent.
Croatia is set to have it highest inflation reading at 4.7%, followed by Lithuania with 4.5% and Latvia and Ireland with both at 3.6%. Italy and Cyprus are estimated to have an inflation rate of just 1.5% in March.
ECB President Christine Lagarde says that the European Central Bank has enough tools at its disposal to deal with any inflationary shocks, but also warned that energy crises need to be addressed by governments.
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