Italian inflation slows in March as core prices stabilise

April 17 (Reuters) – Italy’s inflation rate fell again in March thanks to a decline in energy prices, while core inflation stabilised after rising constantly since last year, official data showed on Monday.

Italian EU-harmonised consumer prices (HICP) rose by 8.1% in March on a yearly basis, compared with 9.8% in February, national statistics agency ISTAT said.

On a monthly basis, prices were up 0.8% in March, compared with a 0.1% increase in February, mainly due to the end of the winter sales season on clothing and footwear, the agency said.

“Despite persistent upward price pressures for services and processed foods, we see signals of an end to the acceleration of prices reported across various sectors of the index over the last few months,” ISTAT said.

In March, core inflation, which excludes volatile prices such as food and energy, eased to a yearly rate of increase of 6.8%, from 7% in February

The main domestic price index (NIC) fell 0.4% on the month and increased 7.6% annually, compared with a 9.1% annual rise in February.