German March inflation clocked at 2.1%

German retail inflation eased in March to 2.1 per cent in annual terms, federal statisticians said Friday, confirming a provisional estimate they issued at the end of last month, as dpa reported. In February, prices rose 2.3 per cent compared to a year earlier. Rising world oil prices were behind most of the gains in the cost of basic goods and services. The Federal Statistics Office in Wiesbaden said motor fuel prices rose 7.7 per cent in the period to a new record. Friday's inflation figure was in line with forecasts by economists previously consulted by the dpa-AFX business news wire. The European Central Bank (ECB) has been playing a balancing act for months, flushing the eurozone full of cash to avert a credit crunch while anxiously watching inflation in Europe's biggest economy.