Gas surcharge could push inflation to more than 10 percent

gas meter

“General relief is correct, but the burden on gas in particular is much higher, so these people need their own measures.”

(Photo: imago images/Wolfgang Maria Weber)

Berlin Consumers and businesses will face further burdens. On Monday, representatives of the energy industry set the level of the new gas surcharge, which energy companies can use to pass on the massively increased costs of gas purchases to their customers. The surcharge is 2.419 cents per kilowatt hour and is due to appear on consumer bills for the first time towards the end of the year.

Economists expect the new equalization mechanism to have a significant impact on inflation. According to calculations by the institute for macroeconomics and economic research (IMK), which is close to the trade unions, inflation could rise towards ten percent after the introduction of the gas surcharge. The calculations are exclusively available to the Handelsblatt.

The inflation rate had weakened to 7.5 percent in July. However, the decline is mainly due to the nine-euro ticket and the fuel discount, which are expected to expire at the end of August. “The inflation rate will then jump up again, together with the gas surcharge, possibly to more than ten percent,” says IMK Director Sebastian Dullien.

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