Norway's inflation slows slightly in March on sharp fall in airfares

Data published by Statistics Norway showed Monday that Norway's inflation slowed slightly in March, dragged by sharp fall in airfares. Norway's consumer price inflation came in at 2.4 percent in March slower than 2.5 percent in February.

Sharp fall in airfares was the most important contributor which weighed on the increase in consumer prices. Prices of electricity surged 15.5 percent annually and food prices gained 2.8 percent, while airfares fell 24.4 percent.

Month-on-month, consumer prices moved up 0.3 percent. Data showed that core inflation rose slightly to 1.7 percent in March from 1.6 percent in February. EU harmonized inflation edged lower to 2.5 percent from 2.7 percent in the prior month.

Producer price inflation (PPI) slowed to 16.1 percent in March. Despite the slowdown, Norway PPI still remained at an elevated level. The fall in PPI in March compared to a 18.8 percent advance in February. Month-on-month, producer prices dropped 1 percent reversing a 2.7 percent rise in February. This was the first fall in six months.