Euro-zone inflation accelerated to another all-time high as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine roiled global supply chains and provided a fresh driver for already-soaring energy costs.
March consumer prices surged 7.5% from a year ago, up from 5.9% in February and more than the 6.7% median estimate in a Bloomberg survey. Showing the increasingly broad nature of the advance, a core gauge excluding volatile components also hit a new record.
Friday’s data follow inflation overshoots this week from Spain and Germany that prompted investors to bring forward bets on when the European Central Bank will end almost eight years of negative interest rates.
Under pressure to act as households across the 19-member currency bloc are squeezed, the ECB in March announced an accelerated exit from asset purchases, with some policy makers calling for one or more rate hikes by year-end.
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