Euro zone consumers trim near-term inflation expectations: ECB

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Euro zone consumers have trimmed their expectations for inflation over the next 12 months, a European Central Bank poll showed on Tuesday, in a sign the ECB's credit-tightening efforts are having an impact.

The Consumer Expectations Survey (CES) is used by policymakers to gauge whether the steepest streak of interest-rate hikes in the euro's history has persuaded households that once runaway inflation will fall back to the ECB's 2% inflation goal.

The latest poll, carried out in December on an expanded panel of 11 countries, showed the median household expected prices to rise by 3.2% in the following 12 months, down from 3.5% a month earlier.

On the flipside, expectations for inflation three years ahead remained slightly above the ECB's goal, even rising slightly to 2.5% from 2.4%.

The result for the previous months were restated to include responses from Ireland, Greece, Austria, Portugal and Finland, which are now also part of the survey.

They join Belgium, Germany, Spain, France, Italy and the Netherlands, raising the poll's coverage to 96% of the euro area’s GDP and 94% of its population.

The CES is an important input in the ECB's deliberations because households' inflation expectations can affect wage demands and attitudes towards saving and spending.

(Reporting By Francesco Canepa; editing by Christina Fincher)

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