, bolstering the case for the region’s central bank to bring interest rate hikes to an end soon. Consumer prices in the 20 countries that use the euro rose 6.1% last month compared with a year ago, easing from 7% in April, according to an initial estimate Thursday from the European Union’s statistics agency. That’s the lowest rate of inflation since February 2022, when Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbor, sending global energy prices soaring.
” “Today, inflation is too high and it is set to remain so for too long,” Lagarde said at a banking conference in Germany. The ECB, along with the US Federal Reserve and Bank of England, targets inflation of 2%.