By Maria Martinez
BERLIN, June 30 (Reuters) – Inflation fell in four key German states in June, preliminary data showed on Tuesday, suggesting Germany’s national inflation rate could ease this month.
• In Bavaria, the inflation rate fell to 2.5% in June from 2.6% in May. In North Rhine-Westphalia and in Baden-Wuerttemberg it decreased to 2.1% from 2.4% and in Lower Saxony it fell to 2.5% from 2.7%.
• The war in Iran had pushed up energy and raw material prices in previous months and the German government now expects inflation to accelerate to 2.7% this year and 2.8% in 2027.
• Economists polled by Reuters are forecasting a harmonised national inflation rate in Germany – the euro zone’s largest economy – of 2.5% in June, down from 2.7% in the previous month. National figures will be released later on Tuesday.
• The German data comes ahead of the euro zone inflation release on Wednesday. Inflation in the bloc is expected to come in at 3.0% in June, down from 3.2% in the previous month, according to economists polled by Reuters.
• The European Central Bank raised interest rates for the first time in nearly three years in June in the hope of curbing inflation before a surge in energy costs spreads more broadly across the euro zone economy.
(Reporting by Maria Martinez; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
