By Mathieu Rosemain

PARIS Inflation may be past its peak in France, Bank of France Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau said on Wednesday, after official data showed inflation cooled more than expected in May.

Consumer prices dipped 0.1% over one month, giving an annual inflation rate of 6.0% after 6.9% in April, EU-harmonised data from the INSEE statistics agency showed.

That was the lowest since May 2022 and was lower than an average expectation of 6.4% in a Reuters poll of 17 economists.

"It's obviously a step in the right direction," Villeroy told a news conference. "We predicted that inflation would peak during this semester. It's even likely that we have passed this peak," he added.

Villeroy also confirmed that the goal was to bring down inflation in the euro zone towards 2% between now and 2025.

"We're going to bring inflation down towards 2% in France and in the eurozone by 2025 -- maybe even by the end of 2024."

(Reporting by Mathieu Rosemain; Editing by Benoit Van Overstraeten; Editing by Sharon Singleton)