Greek consumer price inflation slows to 1.5 pct in May, led by durables

Greece's annual EU-harmonised inflation rate slowed in May, statistics service data showed on Friday.

The reading in May was 1.5 percent from 1.6 percent in April.

Consumer prices were led lower by apparel, footwear, durable goods and medical care costs.

The data also showed the headline consumer price index decelerated to 1.2 percent year-on-year from 1.6 percent in the previous month.

For years an inflation outlier in the eurozone, Greece had been in a protracted deflation mode since March 2013 based on its headline index, as wage and pension cuts and a multi-year recession took a heavy toll on Greek household incomes.

Deflation in Greece, which signed up to its first international bailout in 2010, hit its highest level in November 2013, when consumer prices registered a 2.9 percent year-on-year decline.

[Reuters]