2023-12-30 18:44:32
Inflation stood at 3.1% in December, one tenth below the rate recorded in November, according to the advanced consumer price index (CPI) data published yesterday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE). The organism, which will not give the figure as final until the beginning of next January, attributes this stabilization to the fact that food and non-alcoholic beverages have moderated pricescompared to the rise they registered in December of the previous year.
This CPI means, in short, a new moderation of the general level of prices, after two closes of the year, 2021 and 2022, very black for the economies of families and households. Now, markets and experts take it for granted that prices tend to normalize. “We can’t talk even if there is a decline, at least in the food sector, but we can talk about a certain stabilization”, remarked the professor of the Department of Economics, Finance and Accounting at ESADE Pedro Aznar. Also electricity, whose prices are increasing less than in December 2022, has influenced this moderation of the CPI. In the opposite direction, points out the INE, fuel stands out, the prices of which decrease, but with less intensity than the previous year. In the case of the consumption basket, the factor that has led to stabilization has been the drop in cereal prices, thanks to the injection brought about by the entry of grain from Eastern Europe.
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Enterprise highlighted yesterday that thanks to the measures adopted by the Government, “general and underlying inflation maintain their downward path, allowing wages to continue to gain purchasing power and Spanish companies to be more competitive , even in the difficult international context”.
In concretethe estimated annual rate of change in core inflation (the general index excluding unprocessed food and energy products) decreased by seven tenths to 3.8%, the lowest since last March. In December, consumer prices registered a rate of 0.0% compared to the month of November, according to the advanced indicator of the CPI.
Purchasing power
The unions, for their part, declared that, should the data advanced yesterday be confirmed, wages in 2023 will have gained purchasing power. The trade union leader of CCOO, Mari Cruz Vicente, emphasized that the inflation rate remains high and recalled that the war in Ukraine continues to generate social and economic instability, so measures to contain it and aid are still necessary extraordinary to alleviate it.
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