-Benoit Coeure, ECB Executive Board member
German inflation returned to positive territory in February, after consumer prices in Europe's number one economy slid to deflation in January. Annual inflation rose 0.1%, following the 0.4% decline seen in January, according to the Federal Statistics Office. Back in January, the indicator slid to red territory for the first time in over five years, recording the lowest level since July 2009, when the gauge dropped up 0.5%. On a monthly basis, the consumer price index accelerated 0.9% in February, following the sharp 1.1% slowdown in the preceding month. Plunging energy prices have been the major reason behind the weakness in consumer prices around the globe. Meanwhile, cost of living in France remained in negative zone in February, as inflation in the Euro zone's second biggest economy came in at –0.3% on a yearly basis, but slightly better than –0.4% a month earlier. On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose 0.7% in the measured month, following the 1.0% decline in January.
Meanwhile, the European Central Bank Executive Board member Benoit Coeure provided some details about the central bank's QE scheme, saying that the Eurosystem banks purchased €9.8 billion worth of sovereign debt in just three days of the programme. Coeure added the asset-buying program might last even after its scheduled conclusion in September 2016.
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