Headline inflation decreased by 5.6 percentage points from the previous month. “This is mostly because the price of energy has gone down,” says Peter Hein van Mulligen, chief economist at CBS.
In October, energy was still 100 percent more expensive than a year earlier, this month it was about 40 percent. “It’s still huge, just like 11.2% inflation. But different from the last few months,” the chief economist said.
Last year, energy prices started to rise sharply around this time. Van Mulligen: “This effect disappears after twelve months.” Furthermore, fuel has become much cheaper, which is also reflected in energy prices.
Excluding energy, inflation is still high. “The increase in the prices of food, alcohol and tobacco, at 12.5%, is now just above the total inflation rate. This is surprising.”
According to CBS’s chief economist, the flag certainly cannot go out. Even if inflation is lower and we get compensated for our energy bill. “But the groceries don’t cost a cent less.” The high energy price has a laggy effect on this.
