Germany's annual rate of inflation was measured at 1.8 per cent in September, easing from the 2.0 per cent rate in August, according to a government report Tuesday. The Federal Statistics Office in Wiesbaden said that as in previous months, consumer cost worries would have been less but for the pressure exerted by high petroleum prices. Light heating oil was 27.8 per cent costlier, and fuel prices were 7.2 per cent higher than in September 2003, it said. Excluding these items, annual inflation in September would have been only 1.4 per cent, the office said. The 1.8 per cent rate brings Germany back to below the 2.0 per cent level which the European Central Bank regards as its guideline for price stability in the eurozone region.
