Interest rates hike raises inflation to 6.5% in July

The year-on-year change in consumer prices was 6.5 per cent in July, according to Statistics Finland.

In June, inflation stood at 6.3 per cent. The acceleration of inflation from June to July was caused by increases in average interest rate on housing loans, consumer credits and the prices of electricity from one year ago.

The rising of consumer prices from one year back was curbed most by reductions in the prices of petrol, diesel and owner-occupied flats.

The month-on-month change of consumer prices was 0.5 per cent, which was caused by increases in average interest rate on housing loans, for example.

The core inflation of Consumer Price Index was 7.4 per cent.

Core inflation does not include food and energy price changes, as the short-term price fluctuations in these are higher compared to other commodity groups.

According to the preliminary data on the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP), the rate of inflation in the euro area was 5.3 per cent in July. In June, it stood at 5.5 per cent.