BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - Germany's consumer prices remained flat in August, preliminary data from Destatis revealed Monday.
The consumer price index was unchanged from last year, following a 0.1 percent drop in July. Economists had forecast consumer prices to climb 0.1 percent.
On a monthly basis, consumer prices fell 0.1 percent, which was slightly slower than the 0.2 percent drop economists' had forecast.
The EU measure, the harmonized index of consumer prices dropped 0.1 percent annually in August, confounding expectations for an increase of 0.1 percent. The index had remained flat in July.
Month-on-month, the HICP slid 0.2 percent, in line with economists' expectations.
The negative base effect from low energy prices is keeping headline inflation low but there is more: the VAT cut of July is most visible in prices for food and clothing, Carsten Brzeski, an ING economist said.
Today's German inflation data suggest that for the time being the deflationary threat is clearly more pressing than any inflationary one, the economist added.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX