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Weekly Bulletin issue no. 24, 1997

Harmonized consumer price index, January-April 1997:

Consumer price growth in Southern Europe is softening

In the course of the last year Southern Europe has seen the largest reduction in inflation measured with the harmonized consumer price index (HCPI). Countries such as Italy, Spain and Portugal used to have high inflation, but it has now been reduced to a level on a par with the other EU countries. It appears that the countries in Southern Europe have succeeded in their efforts towards future membership in the economic and monetary union.
With lower inflation in Southern Europe it looks as though most EU countries comply with the Maastricht treaty's requirements concerning inflation, which entails that inflation must not exceed by more than 1.5 percentage points the average rate of inflation in the three member countries that have the lowest inflation. Inflation is measured with the harmonized consumer price index.

Greece is the only EU country that has failed to reign in inflation with a comfortable margin as of April 1997. Germany, which currently has problems complying with the requirement regarding public budget deficits, has no problems complying with the inflation requirement. Throughout the year Germany has kept well within the inflation requirement stipulated in the Maastricht treaty.

New Statistics

Harmonized consumer price index, January-April 1997.
Statistics are published every month in the Weekly Bulletin of Statistics. More information: Åse Nossum, tel. +47 21 09 47 61, e-mail: nos@ssb.no or Lasse Sandberg, tel. +47 21 09 47 16, e-mail: san@ssb.no.

Weekly Bulletin issue no. 24, 1997