SPAIN’S inflation rate slowed this month as fuel prices eased, but it remained elevated due to rising electricity and food prices, official data 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 hit 10.4%, compared with 10.8% last month, according to the National Statistics Institute.

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

Economy Minister Nadia Calvino said consumer prices were on a “downward slope” that will continue “over the course of the next months”.

But she called for “caution” as “uncertainty is very high due to the war”.

The Spanish government has rolled out aid packages in recent months to help households and businesses weather the inflationary pressure.

The European Central Bank, which oversees monetary policy in the eurozone, raised its interest rates for the first time in more than a decade in July as energy prices drove inflation ever higher.

The ECB is expected to raise rates again at its next meeting on September 8, with calls increasing for the bank to act decisively. – AFP, August 30, 2022.