The price expectations of German companies have fallen to their lowest level in two years. The Munich-based Ifo Institute therefore expects price increases to slow down in the coming months, as announced on Friday. The monthly index of price expectations fell by 2.5 to 19 points in May, as the economic researchers announced on Friday. It was below 20 for the first time since spring 2021.
Although the value is also declining in the retail trade with food and beverages, it is still significantly higher at 63.2. “The inflation rate for consumers will therefore only fall very slowly, because price expectations are only falling slowly for many service providers,” said Ifo expert Timo Wollmershäuser.
However, there are also outliers: The number in the bicycle trade fell by almost 50 points to minus 21.8 ̣– this means that the majority of prices there will probably fall. The index consists of the percentage of entrepreneurs who want to raise prices minus the percentage who want to lower prices. (dpa)