Spanish official inflation steady 3.0 % in September

Spain’s inflation rate steadied in October at a high 3.0 percent on a 12-month basis, figures from the national statistics institute showed on Tuesday.

The measure of the rise in consumer prices had risen to 3.0 percent in September after dipping to 2.7 percent in August. It stands at a level comparable to the start of the economic crisis in 2008.

Consumer price rises were most marked in tobacco and alcohol, which rose 10.4 percent, transport and fuel (up 7.6 percent) and housing (up 6.3 percent).

Underlying inflation, a measure that strips out the effect of products whose prices are volatile, such as food and energy, was 1.7 percent, stable compared with September.

The central bank has warned that Spain’s economic growth was anaemic in the third quarter of 2011 and economists have warned it risks falling back into recession next year.