Consumer prices in Switzerland increased by 0.6 percent in June on a year-on-year basis, the Swiss Federal Statistics Office said on Tuesday. The latest official inflation data compared with a rate of 0.5 percent recorded in May and 1.6 percent in June 2006.
The rise was due to seasonal changes in fruit and vegetable prices, as well as higher transport costs due to rising oil prices and increases for tobacco and beverages, the office said in a statement.
Although inflation has slowed over the past year despite strong economic growth, the Swiss central bank raised its key interest rate by a quarter of a point on June 14 to temper the threat of inflation in the longer term.
It was the seventh increase in the three-month Libor rate - which now stands at a range of 2.0 to 3.0 percent - since December 2005, with rate hikes implemented every three months.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2007

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