EU: Eurozone inflation falls in March

Inflation across the 17-state eurozone eased further in March to 1.7 percent, comfortably below the European Central Bank's target of near-but-below two percent, official data showed Tuesday. Bailed-out Greece entered deflationary territory with its March rate coming in at minus-0.2 percent, with prices now falling as the economy continues to shrink. Taken as a whole, March marked the second month in a row that the average annualised rate of price rises throughout the currency area -- home to some 340 million people -- came in on target, after a confirmed 1.8 percent in February. Inflation has steadily declined from 2.7 percent one year earlier. The detail, however, showed wide national variations -- with the biggest eurozone economy, Germany, posting 1.8 percent, but France, stagnant by comparison, was on 1.1 percent. Italy matched Germany's rate, but struggling Spain, meanwhile, with unemployment soaring about 25 percent in a deep recession following the collapse of a real estate bubble, recorded 2.6-percent inflation, although that was down on February's 2.9 percent. Among other bailed-out countries, the rate of inflation in Cyprus, even before its controversial financial rescue that saw banks in lockdown for nearly a fortnight, tumbled to 1.3 percent from 1.8 percent.