German inflation down to 1.4% in September

The rate of inflation in Germany decreased slightly in September to 1.4 percent, the lowest in five months, official data showed on Friday. The slight decrease was mainly due to the price development of mineral oil products, which dropped by 6.5 percent, though consumer prices in September remained the same as August, rising by 1.4 percent year-on-year, said the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) in Wiesbaden. In yearly terms, electricity prices increased by 11.5 percent and food prices went up by 4.7 percent -- markedly higher than the overall inflation rate. Measured by the harmonized index of consumer prices, which was used for European purposes, inflation in Europe's largest economy rose by 1.6 percent in September -- below the medium-term price stability maintenance target of 2 percent set by the European Central Bank (ECB). For the whole euro zone, initial data from European statistical office Eurostat showed annual inflation in September was 1.1 percent. Faced with no urgent threat to price stability, the Frankfurt-based ECB has decided to maintain the interest rate in the common currency area at an historically low level of 0.5 percent.