By Chrystostomos Tsoufis
February 1995. The Prime Minister of the country Andreas Papandreou and the reins of the economy are held by Alekos Papadopoulos and Giannos Papantoniou in the Ministries of Finance and National Economy respectively. This is the time when Greece is being tried in the European Court of Justice for the embargo in Skopje, which signs the customs union with Turkey in exchange for the acceleration of Cyprus’s accession process to the EU, which erupts the crisis in the Olympic. At the same time it is the last month that the country showed double-digit inflation, a full 10%.
In a few hours out of the blue, ELSTAT will announce again after 27 years double-digit inflation for the month of April. And if in 1995 inflation had entered a downward trajectory, today’s figure is the culmination of a gradual increase since last June that began to take characteristically a frantic course since September.
The “chariot“of inflation it is driven by energy costs. Comparative data show that Greece has the 5th most expensive gasoline with 2.1 euros / liter on average 95 octane unleaded behind only Norway, Iceland, Denmark and Finland. Things in diesel may be better with an average price of 1.9 euros / liter, but here it works the horizontal discount given by the government and will be valid until June. Without it, the price of diesel would easily break the 2 euro barrier, putting the country in the top ten in Europe.
The “fire” in energy combined with the product shortages caused by both the Russian-Ukrainian war and sniffing -according to the Minister of Development Adonis Georgiadis- Quarantines in China are also setting fire to shelf prices “altering” the canal habits of the citizens. According to the study of IELKA, 6 in 10 have reduced electricity consumption and food purchasesfor one in two the cost alone shapes the choice of food while 75% postpone personal purchases to meet everyday needs.
The Vice – President of the ECB Luis de Guidos recently stated that we are going through the peak of inflation and that from now on it will begin to recede. Even if it turns out to be true, we should get used to it at high levels at least until the end of the year (in Greece the government forecasts an annual rate of 5.6%) as nothing indicates that the Russians will leave Ukraine soon or that they will return. the balance between global supply and demand in a world still struggling with the pandemic. Inflation has come to stay.
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