Europe has succeeded in bringing inflation under control after a surge driven by the end of the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the head of France’s central bank said.

Eurozone inflation fell below the European Central Bank’s 2 per cent target in May for the first time in seven months, as it considers a further cut to interest rates this week. May’s annual inflation reading of 1.9 per cent was down from April’s 2.2 per cent figure and below analyst expectations of 2 per cent in a Reuters poll.

The latest eurozone inflation data will have made easy reading for European Central Bank President, Christine Lagarde. May’s Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP), a key measure of inflation among members of the bloc,