Greek EU-harmonized inflation picks up to 1.1 percent in December

Greece's annual EU-harmonised inflation rate accelerated in December, statistics service ELSTAT data showed on Monday.

The reading was 1.1 percent from 0.5 percent in November. The data also showed that headline consumer price inflation picked up to 0.8 percent from 0.2 percent in the previous month.

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 household incomes.

Deflation in the country hit its highest level in Nov. 2013 when consumer prices registered a 2.9 percent year-on-year decline. The economy emerged from deflation in June 2016.

Euro zone inflation jumped to 1.3 percent in December from 1.0 percent in November as energy prices rebounded and the cost of food products rose.

[Reuters]