SPANISH inflation eased this month from a nearly four-decade high, thanks to a drop in electricity and fuel prices, provisional data from the National Statistics Institute (INE) showed today. 

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has sent inflation soaring worldwide, prompting central banks to hike interest rates in an effort to rein in consumer prices.

Spain’s annual rate stood at 9.0% in September, down from 10.5% last month. 

Inflation had remained in double digits since June, a level not seen since the mid-1980s. 

“This development is largely due to the fall in prices of electricity, which went up in September last year,” the INE said in a statement. The definitive figures will be released next month. 

“It has also been influenced, albeit to a lesser extent, by the fall in fuel prices,” it added.

Core inflation, which excludes certain prices such as energy, fell by 0.2 percentage points to 6.2%, it said. 

The government of Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has in recent months rolled out aid packages to help households and businesses weather the inflationary pressure, which has soared across Europe due to the Ukraine war.

It has introduced free public transport, subsidised petrol prices and temporarily slashed the sales tax on gas among other measures, in moves that are expected to cost some €30 billion (RM134.56 billion) – or 2.3% of Spain’s GDP. – AFP, September 29, 2022.