Germany's inflation expected to rise 2.5 percent in September

The consumer price index in Germany is expected to rise 2.5 percent in September compared to the same month last year, the German Federal Statistics Office said on Monday.

The forecast is based on results from six states, the office said, adding that the index will be 0.4 percent higher than it was in the previous month.

"Prices of heating oil and motor fuels were up again this month," it said. Heating oil prices rose between 36.4 percent and 45.4 percent on a year-on-year basis, and motor fuel prices increased between 15.3 percent and 19.4 percent, the office said.

As a leading indicator, the office publishes provisional results for the consumer price index at the end of every reference month. Such estimates are based on the results from Baden-Wuerttemberg, Bavaria, Brandenburg, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saxony.

Final results are issued about two weeks later.

Germany's economy, the world's third-biggest and one of its most advanced, has been sluggish in recent years with growth at 1.2 percent in 2004 and is projected to rise by only 0.7 percent in 2005.

Source: Xinhua