India, Jan. 31 -- Consumer price pressures in Germany slowed unexpected at the start of the year amid a sharp slowdown in food inflation, offering some relief for the European Central Bank that lowered interest rates a day earlier and plans to continue easing to boost the single currency economy that came to a standstill in the final three months of 2024. The consumer price index rose 2.3 percent year-on-year in January following a 2.6 percent increase in December, preliminary estimates from the statistical office Destatis showed on Friday. Economists had expected the inflation rate to remain unchanged after accelerating in the previous three months.
Inflation based on the harmonized index of consumer prices was unchanged at 2.8 percent in...