Inflation will again exceed three percent at the end of the year, fear representatives of the economic sector. Compared to Europe, it is maintained mainly by increasing the price of goods, and the price is regulated by the state.
For the whole European Union inflation fell to 2.1 percent in September, on the other hand in the Czech Republic according to Eurostat changed so far +2.8% compared to yesterday. “The increase was higher than expected by the market forecast,” the analyst confirmed the unpleasant surprise Raiffeisen Bank Martin Cronwho, together with other analysts, expect that the inflation could be at three percent in December. Meanwhile, as of June, statisticians only predicted a two percent rise in prices by 2023.
Experts say the usual suspect, namely food prices, is not to blame. Since January, they have grown by 1.7 percent, ie about the same rate as the whole of Europe. According to CNB banking board member Tomáš Holub, the main inflation risks this time around include “higher than expected inertia in service price growth”.
This is also confirmed by Eurostat, between January and September, the price of domestic services rose by almost six percent, while the European average did not exceed four and a half percent.
Restaurants and hotels are usually criticized for the high prices of services, which increased prices by 6.3 percent in nine months. However, they do not exceed the normal level of price increases in pubs in the European Union. Compared to Europe, however, car repairs (8.1 percent) or household appliances (6.5 percent) are becoming more expensive.
Within Europe, it is true that service operators in those countries where they could be responsible for tourist demand, i.e. especially in Malta, Cyprus and Croatia, their prices are increase the most. Right behind them are the countries of Visegrad, including the Czech Republic. They are the self-employed who have been hit hardest by inflation, and want to offset it with the current price rise.
However, state-regulated prices, especially for electricity, gas, heat, water, sewage, alcohol, cigarettes or medicine, have an even greater impact on consumers’ wallets. In the Czech Republic, they grow the most in all of Europe, except for Poland. “The faster growth in energy prices also contributed to the unfavorable development of inflation in September,” explained the economist Unicredit Bank Patrik Rozumberský for BusinessInfo.
However, the banker Holub is not worried that inflation will get out of control just because regulated prices and prices of services are responsible for the increase in prices. Price growth in services may slow as their operators recover past losses. With regulated prices, the state can always intervene.
Therefore, prices cannot be expected to jump after the New Year 2025 as much as this January. Thanks to this, inflation can fall below two percent.
2024-10-17 17:00:00
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