• Prior +3.0%
• HICP +3.0% vs +3.0% y/y prelim
• Prior +3.2%

There are no changes to the preliminary estimates for Spain’s headline inflation numbers in December. It reaffirms that price pressures rebounded back during the latter half of the year, with core prices also holding above the 2% threshold. Of note, core annual inflation was 2.6% in December and that is unchanged from the November reading.

It keeps above the 2% line that the ECB hopes for inflation to fall back towards and Spain will join Germany in that regard in terms of creating some headache for policymakers in tying things together with the rest of the region. As such, the ECB will have to keep on the sidelines for now as stagflation risks are also a consideration when weighing the economic outlook for this year.