Irish Deflation Is Worst Since 1933 - Quintin Fottrel
Ireland slumped deeper into what some economists fear could be a lengthy period of deflation as the consumer price index fell by 4.7% in May from a year ago, by far the sharpest retreat in Europe and the worst here since 1933. Pushing the index down were lower mortgage interest repayments as the housing market has virtually ground to a halt, compounded by fall in energy prices, data from Ireland's Central Statistics Office showed Thursday. Excluding mortgage interest costs, the May consumer price index was only down 1.2% from a year earlier, the CSO said. Mortgage interest costs were down 42.4% on the year and, on the month, there was also a 12% drop in gas and 10.4% drop in electricity prices. Ireland was one of the first euro zone economies to see average prices fall. Most of the other 15 countries sharing the euro currency are showing annual inflation rates of around zero or just above.
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