Data released on Thursday by the Federal Statistical Office of Germany, Destatis, showed a very slight decline in the inflation rate within Germany during March, and it came higher than market expectations, reflecting its slow response to the efforts of the European Central Bank and the German Federal Bank.

The office's data showed the consumer price index in Germany fell to 7.8% in March on an annual basis, after expectations pointed to a slowdown to 7.3%, following Germany recording an annual inflation rate of 8.6% the previous month.

At the same time, the data showed consumer prices in Germany grew on a monthly basis during the current March at the same rate as the previous month, registering 0.8%, while expectations indicated the index would contract to 0.7%.

On the other hand, the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP), the preferred inflation measure for the European Central Bank, decreased in December to 7.8% year-on-year from 9.3%, compared to analysts' estimates of 7.5%.