Official figures show that inflation in the 17 countries that use the euro remained above the European Central Bank's target in June but was lower than market expectations.
In its first estimate, Eurostat, the EU's statistics office, said Thursday, June 30 that consumer prices rose by 2.7 percent in the year to June. That was unchanged on May's rate but below the consensus in the markets of an uptick to 2.8 percent.
Because the rate is above the ECB's target of keeping inflation close to but below 2 percent, it is expected to raise interest rates again next week despite tensions over Greece's debt crisis. Most economists think the central bank will lift its benchmark rate by another quarter point to 1.5 percent, AP reported.
