PARIS, 27th September, 2024 (WAM) -- Inflation in France and Spain plunged below 2 percent — fuelling bets that the European Central Bank will speed up the pace of interest-rate cuts, Bloomberg reported on Friday.
Data Friday showed consumer prices in France rose 1.5 percent from a year ago in September — sinking below 2 percent for the first time in more than three years mainly due to falls in energy costs. Spain saw a similar trend, with inflation easing to 1.7 percent on fuel, power and food.
Analysts had expected readings of 1.9 percent for each country.
Cooling inflation across the 20-nation bloc has allowed the ECB to lower its deposit rate twice this year, with most policymakers indicating that a gradual path down has begun. A surprise contraction in the private-sector economy, however, has boosted wagers that monetary loosening will soon be accelerated.
After Friday’s data, markets boosted bets on another quarter-point rate cut on 17th October, now pricing a 70 percent chance of such a scenario.