German economists called on the European Central Bank (ECB)on Thursday to raise interest rates after euro zone consumer prices grew faster than expected in December.

- "It is time for a normalization," Stefan Bielmeier, chief economist at DZ Bank told Bild daily. "Now a change in interest rates is doable."

- "The sooner the inflation rate in Europe reaches the goal of 2 percent, the quicker the ECB can raise interest rates. Savers would also benefit from this." DIW institute chief Marcel Fratzscher told the paper.

- Isabel Schnabel, one of the panel of economists that advises Chancellor Angela Merkel's government, told Bild an end to ultra-expansive monetary policy should come soon.

Eurozone’s annual inflation rate hit 1.1 percent in December, a sharp jump from November's rate of 0.6 percent, data released by official statistics agency Eurostat showed Wednesday. The rate is the highest since September 2013, when inflation was also 1.1 percent.

German consumer prices, harmonized to compare with other European countries (HICP) rose by 1.7 percent on the year in December after increasing 0.7 percent in November, the Federal Statistics Office said on Tuesday.

The ECB aims for an inflation level of just under 2 percent but has undershot the target for years. It has been buying tens of billions of euros of government bonds each month to inject more cash into the banking system and stimulate price rises in the economy.