1ST LEAD Eurozone inflation of 0.1 per cent boosts likelihood of ECB action By Helen Maguire, dpa

Luxembourg (dpa) - The prices of goods and services in the eurozone increased 0.1 per cent year-on-year in November, according to an estimate released Wednesday, reinforcing analysts‘ expectations that the European Central Bank will take new steps to boost inflation.Fears of deflation have dogged the 19-country European currency bloc, which has also been struggling to rev up its economy after emerging from recession more than two years ago.The inflation data remained unchanged from the previous month, according to the projection by the EU statistics agency Eurostat. Analysts had expected it to rise to 0.3 per cent.Persistently low inflation rates have put pressure on the ECB to boost measures aimed at heading off a prolonged period of deflation, particularly its 60-billion-euro-a-month (63.6-billion-dollar-a-month) bond-buying programme.ECB chief Mario Draghi is widely expected to unveil a new round of monetary stimulus at the bank‘s next governing council meeting on Thursday, including a cut in interest rates.The central bank has an annual target for inflation of just below 2 per cent."The ECB is likely to remain nervous that a prolonged period of below-target inflation will lead to a bigger drop in inflation expectations and take action tomorrow accordingly," said Jonathan Loynes of the Capital Economics think tank.Pernille Bomholdt Henneberg of Danske Bank predicted that the ECB would deliver an "aggressive package of easing measures," while Barclays bank analyst Fabio Fois warned against "overreaction," arguing that "temporary distortive factors" were at play.The inflation rate continued to be held back by falling energy prices, although they dropped at a slower rate of 7.3 per cent, compared to an 8.5-per-cent decline in October.Prices rose, meanwhile, for food, alcohol and tobacco, as well as services and non-energy industrial goods, but at a slower rate than the previous month.