German inflation steady at 1.7% in July

Inflation in Germany, Europe's biggest economy, stood at 1.7 percent in July, unchanged from the figure for June, final data showed on Friday. On a monthly basis, the cost of living in Germany rose by 0.4 percent in July from June, pushed by higher prices for package holidays and fuel, the national statistics office Destatis said in a statement. The final data confirmed provisional inflation numbers released at the end of last month. Using the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices, the ECB's inflation yardstick, the rate of inflation in Germany slipped to 1.9 percent in July, the first time since December 2010 that it had been the key level of 2.0 percent. The ECB defines price stability as increases in HICP of close to but just below 2.0 percent.