TIMES.KY

Cayman Islands, Caribbeanand International News
Thursday, Nov 07, 2024

Is the cost of living crunch starting to ease?

Is the cost of living crunch starting to ease?

Eurozone figures are expected to show inflation slowed down in December, bringing hopes of relief to consumers and governments.

Inflation in the eurozone is expected to have fallen sharply at the end of 2022, giving some reprieve to people struggling to pay bills — and to leaders feeling their wrath.

Record-high rates are expected to have returned to single digits in December, with national data from Germany, France and Spain in recent days showing price increases easing more quickly than forecast. In Italy, inflation also came off its peaks.

Hotly anticipated figures for the eurozone as a whole are released on Friday.

Government programs to limit gas prices as well as falling energy costs and a stronger euro contributed to signs that Europe may be able to start putting the worst of the cost-of-living crisis behind it. That will come as a relief to leaders battling pan-European waves of public discontent, protests and strikes.

Before national data trickled in, a Reuters survey of analysts pointed to inflation slowing to 9.7 percent in December from 10 percent in November. More recent estimates, including those of Pantheon Macroeconomics’ economist Claus Vistesen, put the figure around 9 percent.

Slower price rises will be welcome in Berlin, where government popularity has fallen massively ahead of key regional elections. Increasing numbers of voters fear inflation will undermine private wealth, a key survey showed. Germany's ruling coalition is falling in opinion polls and is on track to lose its majority in the parliament.

In France, the government is keeping a close watch on inflation as it prepares to launch a highly sensitive pension reform next week, framing it as part of a broader effort to improve the country’s economy and boost growth. While price rises in France have been lower than in most eurozone countries thanks to massive government support, the cost of living remains people’s No. 1 concern for the new year, according to opinion polls.

The government this week announced new measures to help small businesses, including the country’s cherished bakeries, cope with soaring energy bills.

Still, President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday struck a cautionary tone. “We're probably not at peak inflation yet,” he said. “We will have prices that go up.”

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde has sounded equally circumspect.

She has said inflation may jump again in January and February, when previous spikes in energy prices are expected to reach the retail level, before coming down more sustainably later this year.

ECB forecasts from December still show inflation averaging 6.3 percent this year.


European Central Bank President Christine has come under fire from governments fearing the central bank’s tightening will push the eurozone economy into a deeper than necessary recession

And while governments may feel pressure on them is easing, the same can hardly be said for the ECB.

Lagarde has come under fire from governments fearing the central bank’s tightening will push the eurozone economy into a deeper-than-necessary recession, adding to the economic hardship of disgruntled voters.

Falling inflation at the same time as slowing economic activity will expose Lagarde to heftier criticism against her tightening course. Italy, under new Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, has been particularly outspoken, with senior ministers attacking December's 0.5 percent interest rate hike and ECB pledges to do more as "baffling," "crazy" and “worrying."

While inflation coming down faster than expected may allow the Governing Council to raise interest rates less aggressively overall, the central bank will not shy away from further tightening as core inflation — which filters out volatile components such as food and energy — may still be on the rise and is running at more than three times the ECB’s 2 percent target.

ING economist Carsten Brzeski said the current inflation environment will likely see the ECB raise rates at the next two meetings by a total of one percentage point. It is only after new inflation forecasts become available in March that there could be momentum to pause the hiking cycle, he added. Markets are currently betting on a policy rate of 3.5 percent by mid-year, up from 2 percent now.

As Lagarde put it in December: “Anybody who thinks that this is a pivot for the ECB is wrong. We’re not pivoting, we’re not wavering.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

TIMES.KY
0:00
0:00
Close
Paper straws found to contain long-lasting and potentially toxic chemicals - study
FTX's Bankman-Fried headed for jail after judge revokes bail
Blackrock gets half a trillion dollar deal to rebuild Ukraine
Israel: Unprecedented Civil Disobedience Looms as IDF Reservists Protest Judiciary Reform
America's First New Nuclear Reactor in Nearly Seven Years Begins Operations
Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system
Today Hunter Biden’s best friend and business associate, Devon Archer, testified that Joe Biden met in Georgetown with Russian Moscow Mayor's Wife Yelena Baturina who later paid Hunter Biden $3.5 million in so called “consulting fees”
Singapore Carries Out First Execution of a Woman in Two Decades Amid Capital Punishment Debate
Google testing journalism AI. We are doing it already 2 years, and without Google biased propoganda and manipulated censorship
Unlike illegal imigrants coming by boats - US Citizens Will Need Visa To Travel To Europe in 2024
Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com
The politician and the journalist lost control and started fighting on live broadcast.
The future of sports
Unveiling the Black Hole: The Mysterious Fate of EU's Aid to Ukraine
Farewell to a Music Titan: Tony Bennett, Renowned Jazz and Pop Vocalist, Passes Away at 96
Alarming Behavior Among Florida's Sharks Raises Concerns Over Possible Cocaine Exposure
Transgender Exclusion in Miss Italy Stirs Controversy Amidst Changing Global Beauty Pageant Landscape
Joe Biden admitted, in his own words, that he delivered what he promised in exchange for the $10 million bribe he received from the Ukraine Oil Company.
TikTok Takes On Spotify And Apple, Launches Own Music Service
Global Trend: Using Anti-Fake News Laws as Censorship Tools - A Deep Dive into Tunisia's Scenario
Arresting Putin During South African Visit Would Equate to War Declaration, Asserts President Ramaphosa
Hacktivist Collective Anonymous Launches 'Project Disclosure' to Unearth Information on UFOs and ETIs
Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali
Server Arrested For Theft After Refusing To Pay A Table's $100 Restaurant Bill When They Dined & Dashed
The Changing Face of Europe: How Mass Migration is Reshaping the Political Landscape
China Urges EU to Clarify Strategic Partnership Amid Trade Tensions
Europe is boiling: Extreme Weather Conditions Prevail Across the Continent
The Last Pour: Anchor Brewing, America's Pioneer Craft Brewer, Closes After 127 Years
Democracy not: EU's Digital Commissioner Considers Shutting Down Social Media Platforms Amid Social Unrest
Sarah Silverman and Renowned Authors Lodge Copyright Infringement Case Against OpenAI and Meta
Italian Court's Controversial Ruling on Sexual Harassment Ignites Uproar
Why Do Tech Executives Support Kennedy Jr.?
The New York Times Announces Closure of its Sports Section in Favor of The Athletic
BBC Anchor Huw Edwards Hospitalized Amid Child Sex Abuse Allegations, Family Confirms
Florida Attorney General requests Meta CEO's testimony on company's platforms' alleged facilitation of illicit activities
The Distorted Mirror of actual approval ratings: Examining the True Threat to Democracy Beyond the Persona of Putin
40,000 child slaves in Congo are forced to work in cobalt mines so we can drive electric cars.
BBC Personalities Rebuke Accusations Amidst Scandal Involving Teen Exploitation
A Swift Disappointment: Why Is Taylor Swift Bypassing Canada on Her Global Tour?
Historic Moment: Edgars Rinkevics, EU's First Openly Gay Head of State, Takes Office as Latvia's President
Bye bye democracy, human rights, freedom: French Cops Can Now Secretly Activate Phone Cameras, Microphones And GPS To Spy On Citizens
The Poor Man With Money, Mark Zuckerberg, Unveils Twitter Replica with Heavy-Handed Censorship: A New Low in Innovation?
Unilever Plummets in a $2.5 Billion Free Fall, to begin with: A Reckoning for Misuse of Corporate Power Against National Interest
Beyond the Blame Game: The Need for Nuanced Perspectives on America's Complex Reality
Twitter Targets Meta: A Tangle of Trade Secrets and Copycat Culture
The Double-Edged Sword of AI: AI is linked to layoffs in industry that created it
US Sanctions on China's Chip Industry Backfire, Prompting Self-Inflicted Blowback
Meta Copy Twitter with New App, Threads
The New French Revolution
BlackRock Bitcoin ETF Application Refiled, Naming Coinbase as ‘Surveillance-Sharing’ Partner
×