Higher food costs cause German CPI to rise by 2.2%
Consumer prices, harmonized to compare with other European countries, rose by 2.2 percent on the year after an increase of 1.9 percent in January, the Federal Statistics Office said.
Rising energy prices and higher food costs were the main drivers behind the overall increase in Germany, a breakdown of the non-harmonized data showed.
The inflation data nonetheless triggered fresh calls from Germany for an end to the ECB's loose monetary policy, particularly with the federal election set for September.
"It's high time for the ECB to move away from its ultra-loose monetary policy," Bavarian Finance Minister Markus Soeder told Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) newspaper.
Strength
The strong economy enables companies to pass on higher costs - such as increased import prices - to customers, pushing up overall inflation.
This trend was also reflected in a survey among purchasing managers, also released on Wednesday. It showed output prices charged by manufacturers rose at the fastest pace since 2011.
"The rising inflation in Germany supports the notion that preparations should start for an exit from the expansive monetary policy in Europe," Ifo institute head Clemens Fuest told the FAZ newspaper.
"If these figures are confirmed for the euro zone as a whole, the ECB should reduce its bond purchases by 10 billion euros a month from April", Fuest suggested.
But other leading economists jumped to the defence of the ECB, saying it was too early for the central bank to reverse course.
"Calls from Germany on the ECB to change its monetary policy are mistaken and premature," the head of the DIW economic research institute Marcel Fratzscher said.
The inflation rate for the entire euro zone is expected to rise to 2.0 percent in February from 1.8 percent in January, economists polled by Reuters said.
source: reuters.com
