Inflation in the Netherlands reached its highest level in nearly twenty years last month. Prices of goods and services were 3.4 percent higher in October than a year earlier, the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) reports. Thursday. The currency depreciation last ran in April 2002 that high on.
The sharp rise in energy prices in particular contributed to the rise in the price level, which has been going on since the end of the summer. Gas was 30.6 percent more expensive in October than the year before, according to CBS. Electricity prices have risen almost 40 percent in a year. Consumers paid 27.3 percent more at the pump. These price increases were even stronger than in September, when energy also became considerably more expensive.
The Netherlands is by no means the only country to deal with rising inflation. Inflation in the eurozone, measured by a method that is not exactly comparable to that used by CBS, rose to 4.1 percent in October – the highest point since 2008. In the United States, the inflation rate has been above it for a few months now. the 5 percent. Higher energy prices are not the only cause of rising inflation; shortages of everything from bicycle parts to computer chips have pushed prices up in other sectors as well. Food, for example, is also becoming more expensive.
Despite rising inflation, the European Central Bank (ECB) does not plan to accelerate its corona support program or raise interest rates. The emergency policy, which injects tens of billions of euros a month into the European economy, was aimed precisely at raising inflation. Finally, at the start of the corona crisis, it briefly dived below 0 percent, while the ECB aims for an inflation of 2 percent. An inflation rate that is too high has drawbacks, such as declining purchasing power, but the ECB still assumes that the sharp increases in inflation are temporary.
Also read: ECB sails risky inflation rate
#Inflation #Netherlands #reaches #highest #level #twenty #years