2024-04-28 01:13:17
The inflation rate has fallen for months and is expected to rise again in April. Economists identify one reason in particular.
Inflation in Germany is expected to have risen for the first time this year in April due to higher energy prices. Consumer prices are likely to be an average of 2.3 percent higher than a year earlier, predict economists from twelve banks surveyed by the Reuters news agency.
In March, the inflation rate had fallen to 2.2 percent, the lowest level in almost three years. In February it was 2.5 percent and in January it was 2.9 percent. The Federal Statistical Office wants to publish an initial estimate for the coming month this Monday.
“The expected increase in inflation is mainly due to higher energy prices,” said Deutsche Bank economist Sebastian Becker. One reason for this is the VAT on gas and district heating, which increased again to 19 percent on April 1st – it was temporarily reduced to seven percent during the energy crisis as a result of Russia’s war against Ukraine. The return to the old tax rate leads to a special effect. “That corresponds to a price increase of around eleven percent,” calculated the Helaba analysts.
Habeck: “Purchasing power is increasing”
As a result of rising oil prices, fuels are also likely to have become significantly more expensive. Because of tensions in the Middle East, oil has become noticeably more expensive on the world markets in recent weeks. The North Sea Brent variety currently costs just under $90 per barrel. At the beginning of the year it was around $76.
The federal government expects an average inflation rate of 2.4 percent for the year as a whole. They are expected to fall to 1.8 percent next year. In 2023 it was still 5.9 percent. “Purchasing power is increasing,” said Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck when presenting the spring projections. “People have more money in their wallets again.”