On Monday, Germany reported inflation that surprisingly fell to 2.0 percent in June, according to the statistics office Destatis. Italy reported unchanged inflation of 1.7, which was slightly lower than the expected 1.8 percent.
Last week, two other major euro countries - France and Spain - reported slightly higher inflation than before. In France, inflation rose to 0.8 percent in June, up from the four-year low of 0.6 percent in May. In Spain, inflation rose to 2.2 percent in June.
The inflation target in both the euro zone and Sweden is 2.0 percent.
If inflationary pressure exceeds the target, it may justify higher interest rates from the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Swedish Central Bank - to dampen demand and cool down the economy. But if inflation appears to fall below the target, it may justify interest rate cuts to stimulate lending and thus increased economic activity.
