SPAIN MAINTAINS FIVE PCT INFLATION TARGET
Spanish Secretary of State for the
economy Guillermo de la Dehesa said the government maintained
its five pct inflation target for this year although a 0.6 pct
increase in March pushed the rise in the year on year consumer
price index to 6.3 pct.
    De la Dehesa said the March rise, announced today by the
National Statistics Institute, was not entirely satisfactory
but acceptable.
    The year on year rate at the end of February was six pct.
Prices rose 8.3 pct last year.
    The March rise included a 0.05 pct increase correcting an
error in last January's consumer price index. Economists had
earlier said the error could have been as high as 0.2 pct.
    De la Dehesa said seasonal increases in food prices pushed
the index up in March and he expected the rate to be lower in
April.
    The Communist-led Workers Commissions union said the March
price rise showed inflation was going up again and the
government looked increasingly unlikely to meet its five pct
target.
    The Workers Commissions said the inflation trend fuelled
unions's claims to wage increases beyond the government's
recomendation to limit wage rises at around five pct.
    Spain is being affected by a two-month-old wave of strikes
for wage rises. Government officials note wage settlements so
far this year have yielded average increases upwards of six
pct, while unions say the figure is higher then seven pct.
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