Eurozone inflation below zero

The European Central Bank had rolled out a range of different policy measures to help get the eurozone economy back on its feet and increase inflation, most recently with a controversial program of bond purchases known as quantitative easing.

ECB chief Mario Draghi insisted earlier this month that the central bank's policies were working. But previous efforts had done little to improve the overall picture, fresh data from Eurostat revealed Monday.

Eurozone inflation fell sharply by 0.2 percent in February, the European statistics agency reported. The figure marked a huge drop from the revised positive 0.3 percent a month earlier and heaped even more pressure on the ECB to come up with new ways of reviving the European economy at the next meeting of its Governing Council on March 8.

Energy costs down 8 percent

Falling oil prices and slowing economic growth in China and other emerging economies were found to be weighing on the headline rate of inflation in the 19-member area using the euro currency.

The sharp February fall put the eurozone into negative territory for the first time since September, dashing hopes of a speedy pickup.

The worrisome inflation data comes just days after the G20 meeting of the world's top economies in Shanghai warned that leaders needed to look beyond ultra-low interest rates and printing money to shake the global economy out of its torpor.

hg/cjc (Reuters, AFP)