OECD CONSUMER PRICES RISE IN FEBRUARY Consumer prices in the countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) rose 0.3 pct in February and inflation rose to 2.4 pct year-on-year, the OECD said in a communique. The OECD attributed the rise in consumer prices to the effects of the February 1986 drop in energy prices working their way out of the index. The February increase was less than Janauary's 0.4 pct increase but slightly above the average for the later months of 1986. Inflation in the 24 western industrialised nations in January was a revised 1.9 pct year-on-year. Retail energy prices rose by 0.3 pct, less than January's 1.1 pct increase. Energy prices for consumers were still nine pct lower than a year earlier, it said. Consumer prices excluding food and energy rose 0.3 pct in February, in line with previous months, although there has been some acceleration noticeable in the U.S. And Britain. Among the leading seven industrial countries, consumer price inflation was highest in Italy at 4.2 pct, followed by Canada at 4.0 pct, Britain at 3.9 pct, France at 3.4 pct, the U.S. At 2.1 pct and West Germany and Japan with negative rates of 0.5 pct and 1.4 pct respectively.