Italy’s inflation rate drops to 5.9%

Rome. Aug 11 (IANS) The Consumer Price Index (CPI) in Italy stood at 5.9 per cent in July, down from 6.4 per cent reported in June, the Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) said.In July, prices for transportation services, non-regulated energy goods, and processed food — all key parts of the inflation calculus — have shown a “deceleration”, Xinhua news agency quoted ISTAT as saying.

According to the institute, the growth rate for transportation-related services slowed to 2.4 per cent in July from 4.7 per cent a month earlier, while prices for non-regulated energy services grew 7.0 per cent in July compared to 8.4 per cent in June, and by 10.5 per cent for processed food, down from 11.5 per cent the previous month.

Italy has criticised the European Central Bank’s (ECB) strategy of reining in high inflation by raising its baseline interest rate continuously, saying the policy acts as a drag on economic growth.

Italy has seen negative growth in two of the last three quarters, with its economy contracting by 0.1 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2022 and by 0.3 per cent in the second quarter of 2023, with 0.6 per cent growth in the intermediate first quarter of the year.

–IANS