A millions of Europeans find it increasingly difficult to make it not just to the end of the month but to the middle of the month. Countries like Germany, which a few months ago proudly displayed macroeconomic figures, are now headed almost hopelessly towards the dreaded recession. Everything is expensive and scarce… and the accounts no longer add up.
“Sometimes when I go shopping…for example, there is usually a shortage of oil and it’s really silly to have to buy more expensive products, because I really don’t have much money.”
“I try to save money on my other daily expenses, for example by canceling my internet subscription. Or I could move to a cheaper flat, I’ve thought about it.”
They are painful decisions that haunt many heads and that Eurostat confirms with data.
Last September, inflation accelerated in Europe: up to almost ten percent per year, 9.9% per year in the euro zone (compared to 9.1% in August).
Germany approached 11%.
The Baltic republics exceed 20%.
France (6.2%), Malta (7.4%) and Finland (8.4%) are at the bottom.
Once again, energy was, by far, the one that contributed the most to the increase in the inflation rate, followed by food, alcoholic beverages and tobacco.
In this context, given the prospect of new increases in interest rates to combat inflation, the euro has fallen again against the dollar, the ECB’s measures may intensify the economic slowdown.
