The economic research institute Ifo sees decreasing price pressure in Germany. The inflation rate is likely to rise temporarily to around 4 percent in December, said Ifo economics chief Timo Wollmershäuser on Wednesday. Above all, there is a base effect here. Last year, gas prices in the consumer price index fell sharply because the state covered the costs for the December discount. “But at the beginning of next year the inflation rate will fall to below 3 percent,” predicted the expert.
Consumer price data for November will be available on Wednesday. The Federal Statistical Office will publish the index at 2 p.m., with experts expecting a decline in the annual inflation rate from 3.8 to 3.5 percent. There are already figures for individual federal states.
According to an Ifo survey, slightly more companies want to increase their prices. The pricing plans index rose to 18 in November from 15.4 points in October. According to the experts, this is primarily due to company-related service providers and wholesalers. The balance there rose from 21.5 to 28.3 points. In the consumer-related sectors, however, price expectations continued to fall: in food retail the balance fell from 40.7 to 34.2 points, in other retail from 28.2 to 27.7 points and in consumer-related service providers from 29, 3 to 25.5 points. (dpa)