Euro zone inflation confirmed at 0.2 percent in December

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Euro zone inflation was confirmed at 0.2 percent in December, the European Union's statistics office data showed on Tuesday, with prices going up in restaurants and cafes and falling the most for fuel.

Eurostat confirmed its earlier estimate that consumer prices in the 19 countries sharing the euro were flat month-on-month in December for a 0.2 percent year-on-year rise.

However, the statistics office revised down the inflation number for November to 0.1 percent year-on-year from 0.2 percent reported earlier.

Excluding the volatile prices of unprocessed food and fuel, or what the European Central Bank calls core inflation, prices in December grew 0.3 percent month-on-month and 0.9 percent year-on-year, the annual change the same as in November.

The ECB wants to keep inflation below, but close to 2 percent over the medium term. To accelerate price growth the bank last year launched a government bond buying program to flood the market with cash and boost demand.

The biggest downward pull on the index came from prices of fuel for transport, which subtracted 0.4 percentage points.

The price of a barrel of Brent crude has fallen further in January, slumping on Tuesday to below $28 per barrel, its lowest level since 2003, as the market anticipated a rise in Iranian exports after the lifting of sanctions against Tehran over the weekend.

(Reporting By Jan Strupczewski; editing by Philip Blenkinsop)

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