According to To Vima — Finance, citing Eurostat's flash estimate, annual inflation in Greece reached 5.6% in October, well above the eurozone average of 4.0%.
Inflation in Greece climbed to 5.6% year-on-year in October, up from 5.1% in September, according to Eurostat's flash estimate cited by To Vima — Finance. In the eurozone as a whole, annual inflation is estimated to have risen to 4.0% from 3.8% a month earlier. The report says the increase was driven mainly by a rise of about 20% in energy prices. Greece is among the countries with the highest inflation in the euro area. Italy recorded the same rate, while only Lithuania (6.1%) and Bulgaria (6%) were higher. The lowest readings were in Malta (2.3%), Germany (2.8%) and Slovakia (2.9%). Across the eurozone, energy inflation is expected at 20.8% in October (18.9% in September), services at 3.3%, and core inflation, which excludes energy and unprocessed food, held at 2.2%. The article also notes that the data confirms the upside inflation risks flagged by the European Central Bank, which kept interest rates unchanged at its last meeting. The ECB's Governing Council said that energy prices continue to rise, that financing conditions have tightened, and that the energy shock is likely to push inflation higher and slow growth. A related To Vima headline says the inflation data strengthens expectations of an ECB rate hike in December. For property buyers in Greece, this is context on price dynamics and borrowing conditions rather than a forecast for the property market itself.