Acceleration In Both Belgian and Portuguese Flash HICP

Belgian March HICP remained well above the ECB's 2% target, with the flash estimate accelerating to 3.8% Y/Y (vs 3.6% prior).

• CPI was estimated at 3.18% Y/Y (vs 3.20% prior) and 0.55% M/M (vs 0.71% prior), while CPI ex-energy/unprocessed foods moderated to 3.85% Y/Y (vs 4.25% prior).
• Energy base effects continue to wane, printing at -1.61% Y/Y in March (vs -5.34% in February and -22.30% in January).
• Per the press release: "These increases of the last months are due to the gradual phase-out of the impact of the basic package for electricity and natural gas".
• Services CPI rose to 5.04% Y/Y (vs 4.92% prior), while overall food inflation was 3.21% Y/Y (vs 4.65% prior).
• We note that three volatile core categories (clothing, travel abroad and holiday villages) contributed 0.17pp to the monthly CPI rate.

Portuguese March HICP was estimated at 2.6% Y/Y (vs 2.3% prior) and 2.3% M/M (vs 0.2% prior).

• Flash CPI saw a similar acceleration to 2.32% Y/Y (vs 2.07% prior) and 1.99% M/M (vs 0.03% prior).
• The sub-components suggest that the monthly acceleration was driven by core components, with the CPI ex-energy/unprocessed food estimate printing at 2.52% Y/Y (vs 2.11% prior) and 2.39% M/M (vs (0.03% prior).
• Processed foods don't appear to be the sole driver of the above, with an annual rate of 1.03% Y/Y (vs 1.24% prior) and 0.86% M/M (vs -0.32% prior).
• Unfortunately, additional details are unavailable in the flash release.