According to the Ifo Institute, consumer prices should continue to rise this year.
(Photo: Reuters)
Berlin According to a survey, more and more companies in Germany want to raise their prices further. The barometer for price expectations for the next three months rose by 1.3 to 46.0 points in January and thus reached a new high, as the Ifo Institute announced on Monday in its current survey.
“Companies pass on the increased costs for energy and for the procurement of primary products and merchandise to their customers,” said Timo Wollmershäuser, head of Ifo economic forecasts. “That will carry through to consumer prices.”
Inflation rates are therefore likely to remain above the four percent mark for a while. “We have therefore raised our inflation forecast to four percent for 2022,” said Wollmershäuser. In December, the Munich researchers had assumed that the cost of living would increase by 3.3 percent.
For comparison: in 2021, prices had risen by 3.1 percent and thus more than since 1993 with 4.5 percent at that time.
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According to the institute, the very high survey values for price expectations run through all sectors of the economy. They were particularly high in wholesale with 60.3 points, followed by retail (57.7) and industry (55.6). The service providers reached a new high with 41.9. Construction was 41.5.
Neutral answers disregarded
These balance values in the price expectations indicate what percentage of the companies want to increase their prices. The percentage of those who want to lower their prices is deducted. If all companies surveyed intended to increase their prices, the balance would be plus 100 points.
If everyone wanted to lower their prices, it would be minus 100. Neutral answers are ignored. The balance has been seasonally adjusted. The Ifo Institute does not ask the companies about the amount of the planned price change.
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