Consumer prices in the eurozone grew slower than expected in December, a first estimate showed yesterday, adding pressure on the European Central Bank to further loosen its monetary policy after it deployed a bare minimum of extra easing last month.

The EU's statistics office Eurostat said consumer prices in the 19 countries sharing the euro rose 0.2 per cent year-on-year last month, against market expectations of a 0.3 per cent rise in a Reuters poll of economists.

Stripped of volatile components, unprocessed food and energy, the ‘core’ consumer price index grew 0.8 per cent year-on-year, below the 0.9 per cent expected by markets and slowing down from the 0.9 per cent recorded the previous month.

The ECB wants to keep inflation below but close to two per cent year-on-year over the medium term.