New inflation figures published by Eurostat in Brussels yesterday show that high food and oil prices have started to have an impact in the 15-member euro area.

According to the EU's statistical arm, average annual inflation in the eurozone last March reached 3.6 per cent, the highest in 16 years.

Malta is feeling the pinch even harder due to its higher dependency on imports.

Eurostat said that, in March, Malta's inflation reached 4.3 per cent, up 0.3 per cent on the preceding month. This was 0.7 per cent higher than the average in the euro area. During the past four months, Malta's inflation rose by 1.3 percentage points. Commenting on the latest euro area figures, Eurostat said that food and energy prices stoked inflation. Food-price inflation accelerated to 6.2 per cent from 5.8 per cent in February, the highest since 1997.

The price of rice climbed to a record €22.67 for 50 kilos yesterday while the prices of wheat, maize and soybeans have also risen to record highs this year.

Energy-price inflation in the eurozone accelerated to 11.2 per cent, the highest since May 2006.

According to Eurostat, last March, the lowest annual inflation rates were observed in The Netherlands (1.9 per cent), the United Kingdom (2.5 per cent) and Portugal (3.1 per cent). On the other hand, the highest inflation was observed in Latvia (16.6 per cent), Bulgaria (13.2 per cent) and Lithuania (11.4 per cent).

Compared to February, annual inflation rose in 18 EU member states, remained stable in three and fell in six.