2024-03-25 09:53:57
The second highest inflation in food among the member countries of the European Union was recorded by Greece for the second consecutive month, as it was formed, according to Eurostat data, at 6.7% in February 2024, with Malta in first place position (6.8%). In February, food inflation in the Eurozone stood at 3%. Overall, the harmonized index of consumer prices was formed in Greece in February 2024 at 3.1%, against 2.6% in the Eurozone.
The products in which the largest annual price increases are observed are olive oil, 63.7% in Greece, in second place after Spain (67%). The lead in annual price increases is held by Greece in the fruit category (12.2%), compared to 6.3% in the Eurozone and 5.1% in the EU. Vegetables recorded the third highest annual increase, 6.5%, compared to 1.2% in the Eurozone and the EU. In the first places in this category are Croatia and Ireland. Significant price increases were recorded in meats, 4.8% in Greece, against 3.3% in the Eurozone. On the other hand, the data show a decrease in the price of fresh milk, of the order of 4%, a trend recorded as a whole in Europe.
It is recalled that from March 1, 2024, four new measures aimed at reducing prices are implemented, while the “household basket” and the ceiling on the gross profit margin for a range of products are still in force.
On the occasion of the completion of four years since the implementation of this last measure, Mr. Aristotelis Panteliadis, head of METRO AEBE and president of the Supermarket Association of Greece, commented on the government policy with an article on the LinkedIn platform. In it he points out, among other things, that the average net profitability of supermarkets is 1.47%. “Undoubtedly our turnover is very large and the final amount can be quite respectable. However, we also have several cases of marginal profitability and even losses.
It doesn’t take more than simple logic to think that further compression of profit margins will lead to the creation of troubled businesses, which the state will then rush to bail out,” he emphasizes. At another point, he argues that the government’s intervention in the operation of the market moves within the limits of the constitutional provisions.
Source kathimerini.gr