Eurozone inflation will come closer to the 2-percent target in the course of 2009, Eurogroup President Jean-Claude Juncker said Tuesday.
But he warned that the downward trend will be "a slow process", given rising oil and food prices.
"I do think inflation will come closer to target ... in the course of 2009. Nevertheless I do think that this will be a slow process," Juncker, who is also Luxembourg prime minister, told reporters.
"Oil prices and food prices will remain at very high levels and this is something new. We have to accommodate and adjust (to) these problems," he said, "Ordinary people are increasingly suffering and we have to offer them a response."
Eurozone inflation, driven by high oil and food prices, now stands at 3.6 percent, way above the 2-percent target set by the European Central Bank.
Juncker said rising food and oil prices should be addressed at Group of Seven (G7) level.
"I do think that we have to address these issues at the G7 or G8 level."
He said European Union (EU) leaders were already putting these issues on the agenda of the G7, which groups the world's most industrialized nations – Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States. G8 brings together G7 and Russia.
Juncker said EU leaders were also in talks with oil-producing countries to find a way to alleviate the burden of record high oil prices.
"We have to stay in a continuous dialogue with oil-producing countries," he said.
Asked whether a summit between the EU and oil-producing cartel OPEC would be a good idea to address oil prices, Juncker said he has to reflect on it first.
"I would like to reflect before saying yes or no. This could be a good idea," he said.
He said speculation is one of the major reasons for higher food and oil prices.
(Xinhua News Agency June 4, 2008)
