Inflation is tightening for the second consecutive month in Spain, after having maintained a downward path since it reached its maximum level last July. The increase in food and electricity bills, higher in both cases than a year ago, have raised the annual CPI rate by two tenths to 6.1% in February, its highest level since November. This despite the VAT reduction applied by the Government since the beginning of the year to a basket of basic necessities. In monthly terms, prices rise one tenth.
The advance of the monthly data published this Tuesday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE) also indicates that the underlying, which excludes from its computation the most volatile elements such as fresh food and energy, rises two tenths in relation to until January the 7.7%. It is its highest rate in the last forty years.
In its note, Statistics explains that, compared to food and electricity, the drop in the prices of fuels and lubricants (which became more expensive in February of last year), and combined passenger transport, compared to the stability of the last year.
