BRUSSELS, March 16 (Reuters) - Lower prices of gas, food and clothes limited euro zone inflation in year-on-year terms in February despite more expensive fuel for cars and tobacco, the European Union's statistics office said on Tuesday.
Eurostat confirmed its earlier estimate that consumer prices in the 16 countries using the euro rose 0.9 percent year-on-year last month, after a 1.0 percent increase in January, as expected by economists polled by Reuters.
Month-on-month prices grew by 0.3 percent, in line with expectations, driven mainly by more expensive package holidays and clothes, while fuel and food had the biggest downward impact.
The European Central Bank wants to keep inflation below, but close to, 2 percent year-on-year over the medium term.
It left interest rates unchanged at record lows of 1 percent at the start of March as inflationary pressures in the economy, which is slowly recovering from its deepest recession since World War Two, are very low.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile unprocessed food and energy prices and is an indication of inflationary pressures, slowed to 0.8 percent year-on-year from 0.9 percent in January after a 0.3 percent monthly rise.
Economists expect the ECB will not start raising interest rates until early 2011. (Reporting by Jan Strupczewski, editing by Timothy Heritage)