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French and Spanish Inflation Rises, Backing Stable ECB Rates

William Horobin
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French and Spanish inflation rose faster than expected in February 2026, reinforcing the European Central Bank’s decision to hold interest rates steady amid persistent price pressures. France’s annual inflation surged to 1.1% from 0.4% the prior month, exceeding economists’ 0.8% forecast, signaling stronger-than-anticipated price growth in the eurozone’s second-largest economy. Spain’s inflation unexpectedly climbed to 2.5% from 2.4%, defying projections of a decline to 2.3%, further complicating the ECB’s policy outlook as price stability remains elusive. The data aligns with the ECB’s cautious stance, reducing the likelihood of near-term rate cuts despite earlier hopes for monetary easing as inflation proves stickier than anticipated. Analysts warn the upward surprises may delay policy shifts, forcing the ECB to maintain restrictive rates longer to ensure inflation sustainably returns to its 2% target.
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Connecting decision makers to a dynamic network of information, people and ideas, Bloomberg quickly and accurately delivers business and financial information, news and insight around the worldAmericas+1 212 318 2000EMEA+44 20 7330 7500Asia Pacific+65 6212 1000Connecting decision makers to a dynamic network of information, people and ideas, Bloomberg quickly and accurately delivers business and financial information, news and insight around the worldAmericas+1 212 318 2000EMEA+44 20 7330 7500Asia Pacific+65 6212 1000Inflation quickened more than anticipated in France and unexpectedly accelerated in Spain — supporting the European Central Bank’s stance that further cuts in interest rates aren’t needed.Consumer prices in France rose 1.1% from a year ago after a 0.4% increase the previous month — well ahead of the 0.8% median Bloomberg survey of economists. In Spain, inflation inched up to 2.5% from 2.4%. Analysts had forecast a retreat to 2.3%.

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Source: Bloomberg

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