ATHENS, April 10 (Reuters) - Greek consumer prices fell 1.3 percent in March, with the annual pace of deflation accelerating from the previous month, data by the country's statistics service showed on Thursday.
The figure exceeded a forecast of -1.1 percent by economists in a Reuters poll. The EU-harmonised deflation rate accelerated to -1.5 percent from -0.9 in February, below a -1.0 percent rate expected by economists.
Deflation hit its highest pace since monthly records began in 1960 in November, registering -2.9 percent year-on-year.
A deep recession coupled with wage cuts and substantial spare capacity in the economy continue to exert downward price pressures, part of an internal devaluation process that could boost Greece's economic competitiveness.
Euro zone inflation hit its lowest level since November 2009 in March at 0.5 percent, a drop that raised expectations the European Central Bank may take action to stop the threat of deflation. *********************************************************** KEY FIGURES MARCH FEB JAN DEC NOV OCT CPI y/y -1.3 -1.1 -1.5 -1.7 -2.9 -2.0 EU-harmonised -1.5 -0.9 -1.4 -1.8 -2.9 -1.9 -------------------------------------------------------- source: ELSTAT (Reporting by George Georgiopoulos, editing by Angeliki Koutantou)