Inflation has risen to its highest level in more than four decades in Germany as the economic effects of years of blocking restrictions and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continue to bite the European Union’s leading economic power.
The German statistical agency Destatis said on Thursday that consumer prices rose 7.4% in April compared to the same period last year. The inflation rate is the highest since 1981 in West Germany, when the country was divided by the Berlin Wall.
The government agency said fuel costs, which have been rising steadily since last summer, when restrictions on blocking began to ease, have had the biggest impact on rising inflation in the country.
“In particular, energy prices have risen significantly since the start of the war in Ukraine,” Destatis told Deutsche Welle.
Despite the growing energy crisis, Germany’s left-wing government has so far refused to step down from its green agenda, upholding the ban on fracking and preparing to shut down the country’s remaining nuclear power plants.
Germany is already facing recession warnings if Russia’s energy supplies dry up.
“Extortion”: Russia stops gas for EU countries Poland, Bulgaria, Energy prices jump on news
– Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) April 27, 2022
Things could get worse for Germany, as it now faces the threat of Russia cutting off energy supplies, as it has done with Poland and Bulgaria over its refusal to buy gas from Moscow in rubles, as Vladimir Putin has demanded.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Friday that while he would not “speculate” on the potential, his government was preparing for Russia to cut off supplies since the invasion of Ukraine began in February.
Some German energy companies, including Uniper, have already agreed to a scheme in which they pay in Western currency, which will then be converted into rubles by their Russian counterparts. However, it is unclear whether this request will satisfy President Putin’s demands.
Meanwhile, inflation has also reached a record high in the eurozone, the economic bloc in which the euro is used. Inflation rose to 7.5% in April from 7.4% in March, EU statistics revealed on Friday.
The Baltic states were particularly hard hit, with prices rising by 19 per cent in Estonia, 16.6 per cent in Lithuania and 13.3 per cent in Latvia.
German inflation reaches its highest level since the fall of the Berlin Wall, growth forecasts halved
– Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) April 1, 2022
Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here @KurtZindulka
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