BERLIN (Reuters) - German inflation remained below the European Central Bank's target level for a fourth consecutive month in March, data showed on Thursday, suggesting that price pressures in Europe's biggest economy are still moderate despite zero interest rates.
German consumer prices, harmonised to make them comparable with inflation data from other European Union countries, rose by 1.5 percent year-on-year after an increase of 1.7 in the previous month, the Federal Statistics Office said.
This undershot a forecast of 1.6 percent. The ECB targets inflation of close to but below 2 percent for the euro zone as a whole.
On the month, EU-harmonised prices rose by 0.6 percent, the preliminary numbers showed. This compared with market expectations for an increase of 0.7 percent.
(Reporting by Michael Nienaber,; Editing by Tassilo Hummel)
