EU-17 CPI Unchanged at 2.4%, Euro-zone Trade Balance Rose to 6.9B Euros - 16.7.2012

The Euro-area consumer price index unexpectedly fell in June by 0.1 per cent compared to the previous month, the pace of decline was the same like in May according to Eurostat. On annual basis the CPI was steady at 2.4 per cent as it was expected, moreover the Euro-zone CPI excluding energy and food prices was released at 1.6 per cent increase in June 12 from June 11. ECB’s target for inflation is to keep it close to 2 per cent level and the CPI has been moving closer to this target in the last months, additionally earlier this month ECB cut interest rate to 0.75 per cent to stem European crisis. At the same time, the Euro-zone Trade Balance non-seasonally adjusted indicated that the trade surplus rose from a revised 3.7 billion euros in April to 6.9 billion euros in May. Finally, seasonally adjusted exports increased by 0.3 per cent and imports declined by 0.9 per cent.