BERLIN, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Germany's inflation rate increased to 0.9 percent in June, according to provisional figures published by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) on Monday.
Back in February, the inflation rate stood at 1.7 percent but fell by more than one percentage point in the following months to a low of 0.6 percent in May, according to Destatis.
The inflation rate had picked up slightly "despite a continued decline in energy prices," Reint Gropp, president of the Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH), said on Monday.
According to the provisional data by Destatis, energy prices in Germany fell by 6.2 percent in June compared to the same month last year. In May, energy prices had even dropped by 8.5 percent.
Overall, the monetary stance of the European Central Bank (ECB) "continues to be appropriate, at least from a German perspective," added Gropp. Moving the inflation rate back to the two-percent target would "crucially hinge on how energy prices develop during the next months."
The Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat) is scheduled on Tuesday to publish the flash estimate of inflation in the euro area for June. Enditem
