Euro zone inflation unchanged at 0.2% in August

The euro zone remains stuck with a lackluster economy, latest figures show on Wednesday, with stubbornly low inflation and high unemployment levels in some of its member countries.

Data from the euro zone’s statistics authority Eurostat Wednesday showed inflation remained at 0.2 percent in August, unchanged from a July figure. Unemployment in the 19-country bloc came in at 10.1 percent, also unchanged from June.

The news comes in spite of the European Central Bank unleashing a raft of monetary measures to stimulate spending and investment including negative interest rates and a trillion-euro corporate and sovereign bond-buying program.

There are now mounting calls for governments to introduce fiscal stimulus measures to help stimulate the economy. Stephen Isaacs, the chairman of the investment committee at London-based alternative advisory firm Alvine Capital, told CNBC this month that more fiscal policy measures would take the strain from monetary policy.

“I think monetary policy is a dead duck and I think bond yields at this level for investors represent absolutely no value and a huge amount of risk. What I would like to focus on is the coming fiscal reflationary trade because I think that is creeping out of the woodwork in many places,” he told CNBC.

Source: CNBC