OECD'S ANNUAL INFLATION RISES TO 2.7% IN MARCH

Paris, May 3 (Xinhua)- The annual rate of consumer price index in the OECD area rose to 2.7 percent in the year to March from 2.4 percent in February, the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said Tuesday.

In its monthly report, the advanced countries' advisory agency pointed out this increase was driven by an acceleration in energy prices which grew by 12.4 percent in March, compared with 10.2 percent in February, while food prices also climbed to 3.2 percent from 3.1 percent in February.

The core inflation rate, excluding food and energy prices, perched at 1.4 percent in March, which presented "the highest rate since March 2010," OECD added.

Among the seven major advanced economies, Britain posted the highest inflation to 4.0 percent in March though the increase slowed from February's 4.4 percent year-on-year. For the rest six, except Japan which recorded zero inflation over the period, Canada, the United States, France, Italy and Germany all registered inflation rates above 2.0 percent.

For the euro zone, the harmonized index of consumer prices (HICP) rose by 2.7 percent, up from 2.4 percent in February. Energy prices increased by 13.0 percent in March year-on-year, while food prices rose by 2.1 percent.

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