Greece’s inflation rate dropped for a second month in August as retailers slashed prices during the summer sales season.
The annual rate calculated using European Union methods fell to 1.4% from 2.1% in July, the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) said as reported by daily Kathimerini. Economists expected a 2% reading, the median of five estimates in a Bloomberg News survey showed. Using Greek methods, the rate was 1.7%. Greece now has the third-lowest inflation rate in the euro region behind Slovenia and Ireland, less than a year after it had the region’s highest. Increased sales taxes introduced as a condition of the 110-billion-euro bailout from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund pushed the rate up to 5.7% in September 2010. The EU and the IMF forecast Greek inflation will average 2.9% this year, compared with 4.7% in 2010, according to the fourth review of Greece’s progress in meeting the bailout conditions.
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