The evolution of inflation in Portugal is “favourable”: going down, even “slowly”, is always better than going up. But economists say that it is too early to consider the inflation problem resolved, according to the analysis of the data released by the INE and, at a European level, by Eurostat. By the way, the inflation that worries the ECB the most, the so-called “core inflation” – rose again last month, making the position of those who advocate a “pause” in interest rate hikes in the euro zone even more precarious.
“The problem [da inflação ainda] it is there”, commented João César das Neves, tenured professor at the Catholic University, this Friday in the program “Contra Corrente” of Rádio Observador. “Once the ‘monster’ is released, it is always very difficult to put it back in the cage”, added the same economist, minutes after the National Institute of Statistics (INE) estimated that the Headline inflation in Portugal dropped from 4% to 3.4% – however, the evolution of prices excluding energy prices (which are being corrected negatively with respect to the values of a year ago) continues at a level above 5% (5.2%) and decreased more slowly than headline inflation.
Pedro Braz Teixeira, director of the studies department of the Forum for Competitiveness, also highlights the slow rate of decline in inflation, especially the so-called “core inflation” that better reflects inflationary pressures in the economy because it excludes not only (volatile) ) energy prices, but also unprocessed food prices. This indicator dropped from 5.4% in May to 5.2% in June: “at this rate we will never get there again… At one or two tenths a month, we will only reach the goal in 2026”, the economist ironically.
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Source: Observadora
