2023-09-12 11:19:26
Prices continue to rise in the regions of Girona and close August with an increase of seven tenthsaccording to the data periodically made public by the National Institute of Statistics (INE).
In the demarcation, above all, throughout August prices have either gone up or remained the same. Of the set of products and services that determine the CPI, there are very few that have gone down.
As usual, food is the protagonist for a price increase. During the last month the food have become more expensive by 0.4%. An increase that has been sustained during the summer (in July, the rise was also 0.4%; and in June, 0.5%). Filling the fridge of Girona residents, right now, costs up to 9.6% more than a year ago. Despite the increase, this is the first time in many months that the number has fallen below double digits (because until now, the increases were more than 10%).
«We are convinced that the issue of rising food prices is a matter that should be a priority for the government and that clear and direct action should be taken against these companies that what they are doing is business. They are transferring the price increase of some materials directly to the final price so that they are not harmed or even earn more money”, reports the general secretary of UGT in the Girona regions, Maxi Rica.
For her part, Belén López, general secretary of CCOO in Girona, believes that “more courageous measures are needed”. López asks to “maintain aid such as the issue of transport and the limitation of consumer prices, especially of food”. «I think that the shopping basket is one of the things that is currently increasing the cost of living and putting working households at risk“, add.
In addition, the increase in fuels is also noticeable. Above all, in transport and vehicle rental prices, which during August have risen by 2.9% and 3.8% respectively. In any case, however, the increase in fuels still does not change the average of the package that includes fuels (and which also groups electricity and gas).
During August, the prices of this package have registered a drop, albeit shy, specifically of 0.3%. However, compared to a year ago, the group consisting of electricity, gas and other fuels is up to 33.5% cheaper. It should be noted, however, that the increases in electricity and the rise in fuels translated into an increase of 0.5% and 1.3% in the months of June and July.
At the same time, also because it is the peak of the tourist season, the prices of tourist packages (+3.5%) or of hotels and restaurants (+0.5%) have also gone up this August ). Other products and services that have risen have been personal care items (+1.5%), leisure and culture (+0.6%) or rentals (+0.1%). In fact, in the regions of Girona, renting a flat now costs 4.3% more than a year ago.
According to data from the National Institute of Statistics, among the groups that have remained unchanged are clothing and footwear, education and communications. And on the other side of the scale, that is to say, within those products that have dropped in price, there are books and stationery (-0.7%), non-alcoholic beverages (-0.7 %), home textiles (-0.4%) and gardening items (-0.3%).
When tipping the scales, prices weigh more. And this causes the year-on-year CPI to climb back above 2%. After closing June at 1.4%, and rising slightly to 1.5% in July, this index now closes August at 2.3%.
Recovery in Catalonia
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) has risen by two tenths in August in Catalonia and has stood at 2.5% compared to the same month last year. In this way, inflation links two consecutive months on the rise. Food has been 9.5% more expensive than a year ago, a figure six tenths lower than last month’s rate (10.1%). This is the lowest year-on-year change since May 2022. As for the monthly indicator, compared to July the price has rebounded by 0.1%.
Pime warns that the increase in the price of food and raw materials “is being transferred” to the rest of the sectors. After learning the CPI data for the month of August, the employers’ association of small and medium-sized companies warns that underlying inflation “is not being contained” and predicts that the indicator “could pick up” in September. “The effects of the second round are not being reversed”, Pimec defends in a statement, warning of the possibility that the increase in prices will be transferred between products and fuel the inflationary spiral even more. For all that, the employer insists on extending the reduction in VAT on basic foods to meat and fish because it believes that the measure as it currently stands “has practically not been noticed”.
The rise of oil
In Spain, inflation rose by three tenths in August, up to 2.6%, according to INE data, which confirm the advanced indicator that the same body anticipated last August 30. As for the month of July, the CPI rose in August by 0.5%, at a monthly rate.
The increase in the price of fuels and fuels, the prices of which have risen by 5% compared to the month of July, have become the main factor that has caused inflation to pick up in August for the second consecutive month, from the annual minimum of 1.9% recorded in June. If they are compared with the same month last year, fuel prices have been in August at a level 3.8% below those that existed in 2022. The monthly price increase of fuels and fuels of 5% in the month of August is the highest since January 2023, when prices rose 9.5% due to the disappearance of the discount of 20 cents per liter that the government had provided.
Olive oil has also contributed to the uptick in inflation, with a monthly rise of 8.7% making the liter now 52.5% more expensive than it was a year ago.
The group of food and non-alcoholic beverages, for its part, has recorded a monthly increase of 0.2, which leaves its annual inflation at 10.5%, three tenths below the 10.8% of July, and below the ceiling of 16.6% reached in February.
The acting First Vice-President and Minister of Economic Affairs, Nadia Calviño, highlighted yesterday that the final August IPC data show that inflation has remained below 3% and that of food has moderated .
“Spain is consolidating itself as the European economy with more growth and less inflation, which benefits the competitiveness of our companies and also the purchasing power of wages,” Calviño stressed.
The acting first vice-president also highlighted that the economic policy measures applied in Spain have made it possible to cut inflation by eight points in the last year “in an inflationary context throughout Europe”.
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