A driver fills up at a gas station. /
High inflation is here to stay longer than estimated with rising interest rates and continued loss of purchasing power
Millions of households had already forgotten to check the mortgage receipts that their banks charged them each month. Spain, and the entire euro zone, have lived a decade with interest rates at their lowest, even negative. But the landscape has completely changed. The European Central Bank (ECB) has revised upwards the official price of money to 0.5%. First consequence: those citizens who had forgotten the mortgage re-analyze how much the fee will rise from now on.
That of mortgage receipts is the first major consequence of the impact of a rise in interest rates with which the body chaired by Christine Lagarde wants to contain inflation. Or rather, the escalation in which the CPI (Consumer Price Index) has been in recent months. It had been a decade since Spain had experienced a rate hike, and it had been more than 40 years since the economy, like the entire European economy, had not remembered how prices could rise at the rate they are doing. From fuel to food; from travel to cars. Are we prepared for this context?
The situation is not similar, but in Argentina, one of the economies accustomed to living with inflation, prices have been changing by the hour for years. Not for days. For hours. On this side of the Atlantic, the situation does not reach that extreme, but a good part of the products that make up the average shopping basket accumulate a price increase of more than 10.8%, the latest CPI data provided in July by the INE.
A more selective day to day
To reduce the cost of the shopping cart, several tips can be followed that many citizens may have forgotten in recent years in which deflation has even been recorded. For example, compare between establishments or do it within the store itself with different products. In addition, experts recommend being careful with marketing strategies that try to convince the customer to spend more: the distribution of essential products around the store to force the public to go through all the aisles. In addition, many supermarkets attach great importance to their guarantees, and that is what they base their campaigns on. They usually only cover brand name products, the bottom line is that if the shopping basket cost less elsewhere they will refund you the difference.
Financing, more expensive
Financing is the order of the day for many families. But with the decision that the ECB has recently taken, the cost of purchases will rise. It has already done so, when the average interest on consumer loans has gone from 5.5% at the end of 2021 to 6.6% today. Paying in installments is more expensive. And so it will be for the next few months. For this reason, and to avoid later disappointments, it is advisable to analyze all the conditions of the credit that is going to be signed, not only in relation to interest, but also in terms of commissions or fees, as well as the possibility that it is a ‘revolving’ card in which interest exceeds 18%, on average. And, if possible, do not finance a product for longer than it is going to be used.
Together with consumer credit, the greatest impact of high inflation and the rise in rates comes in mortgages. Little can be done if you are among the two-thirds of households with variable-rate mortgages. It is the new reality, that of higher fees. Although the main asset that these families or companies have is to pay off part of the mortgage debt, in order to lower the fee or take years of financing off of them. For now, a change in mortgage modality – to a fixed one, for example – can be more expensive than what is saved with interest, due to commissions and expensive procedures that must be carried out with the entity, notary or registry.
Somewhat more attractive savings
The only good news in this context comes to savers. They will see how their banks begin to offer profitable products, such as historical deposits. However, it is advisable to avoid contracting long-term products that prevent having liquidity in the family budget in case of having to face an unforeseen event. In addition, the rate at which the profitability of savings products will increase will be much slower than what the Euribor and other credit indices are already doing.
The rent agreement, waiting for the agreement after the summer
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, already urged trade unions and businessmen to reach an income pact a few days after the Russian invasion of Ukraine began. An agreement that implied moderation of salaries and also of company profits. But the proposal was stuck there. Until the vice president, Nadia Calviño, recovered it a few days ago, without any progress and waiting for all parties to address this thorny issue after the summer.
One of the figures who has most insisted on moderating wages, profits and even pensions and public salaries has been the governor of the Bank of Spain. Pablo Hernández de Cos has constantly underlined the need to reach an agreement to jointly address the impoverishment resulting from the sharp increase in inflation and has warned that trying to avoid it could lead to an inflationary spiral that will make the economy less competitive.
The need for this income pact stems from recognizing that for the eurozone and Spain a good part of the disturbances have to do with the rise in energy prices, the importation of which is essential and is causing general impoverishment. “This recognition makes it necessary to share that loss and, if all economic agents try to avoid the loss, we will enter an inflationary spiral with a loss of competitiveness,” he warned.
De Cos has defended that an income pact means “agreeing on a distribution of that loss” between companies, with a reduction in margins, as well as among workers, with salary increases below inflation, and also in the public sector .
Beyond the impact on the shopping basket, the rise in mortgage payments or the difficulties in financing from now on, the restriction of wages and business results may be a key to preventing the economy from entering a dynamic of rising prices that always go higher.