LONDON Data released this week provides evidence that inflationary pressures stoked by skyrocketing energy costs are starting to hit European economies, AFP reported.
On Tuesday, Britain and Germany both blamed the soaring cost of oil for sharp rises in inflation in September.
The European Union and euro-zone inflation rates are similarly expected to show an increase when they are released next week, as a result of the soaring energy prices.
Alarm bells rang loud in September when oil prices surged to 10 year highs, promising a wave of inflationary pressures through increased raw material and transportation costs.
Although crude oil prices have moderated in recent days to 31.46 dollars a barrel here on Tuesday the full effects of the price spike have yet to be felt.
Last Thursday, the European Central Bank (ECB) raised its key interest rate by 25 basis points to 4.75 percent to ensure that, in the words of Bank President Wim Duisenberg, "upward pressures on consumer prices do not translate into more permanent inflation tendencies." Inflationary pressures in the euro zone have been compounded by the weak euro, which makes imports from outside the region more expensive for its consumers.
According to recent data the rise in energy costs is starting to hit European inflation, both within the euro zone and outside.
Inflation in Germany, the largest economy in the euro zone, reached 2.5 percent in September on a 12-month basis ,197 its highest in almost six years official figures showed Tuesday.
Britain also released data on Tuesday showing a marked increase in September inflation to 3.3 percent, the highest since July 1998.
Both sets of data pinpointed rising oil and fuel costs as the principle cause of the inflationary pressures, although the prices of other categories of goods also contributed.
The figures followed official inflation figures released by the Netherlands last week showing an annual inflation rate of 2.9 percent in September, while petrol prices rose by 3.6 percent in August.
For peripheral euro-zone economies such as Ireland and Spain, struggling to cope with a one-size-fits-all' interest rate, the prospect of an increase in inflation is a particular concern.
The Irish Central Bank warned last month that inflation was "well in excess of what is usually deemed to be price stability.
" In July and August inflation in Ireland measured 6.2 percent.
And the Spanish government saw hopes of meeting its 2.0-percent inflation target dashed last month when inflation rose to 3.6 percent in large part due to the sky-high oil prices.
Against this backdrop, many European central bankers will be hoping that renewed tensions in the Middle East and a drop in temperatures in parts of the United States, which have caused oil prices here to rally over a dollar a barrel since the close of trading Friday, are not a harbinger of a bleak winter ahead.