Annual inflation in Europe’s largest economy probably slowed to zero in September, data from some German states suggested on Tuesday, potentially pushing the euro zone figure into negative territory and boosting the case for the ECB to take more action.
Data from five states, including North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) – Germany’s most populous state and often a bellwether for the national data – showed annual inflation was unchanged on the year after positive readings last month.
Nationwide data is due out at 1200 GMT.
All of the five state readings were well below the European Central Bank’s euro zone target of just below 2 percent.
Economists polled by Reuters before the states’ data was published had predicted annual German inflation harmonised to compare with other European states – the ECB’s preferred measure – would drop to zero from 0.1 percent in August.
