Euro area annual inflation for March is expected to stand at -0.1 per cent, up from -0.3 per cent in February, according to a flash estimate by Eurostat.

The highest annual rate in March is expected to be in the services sector (1.0 per cent, compared with 1.2 per cent in February), followed by food, alcohol and tobacco (0.6 per cent, compared with 0.5 per cent in February), non-energy industrial goods (-0.1 per cent, stable compared with February) and energy (-5.8 per cent, compared with a figure of -7.9 per cent in February).