Eurozone countries are continuing to suffer the effects of a devalued currency and soaring inflation with the Netherlands reporting a record 17.1 percent level of inflation for September.
The spike in the cost of living is the highest increase ever measured by the country’s Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).
The government of the eurozone’s fifth-largest economy announced earlier this month it would spend €18 billion next year to support Dutch consumers with their energy bills, and also announced a gas and electricity price cap.
“The consequences for people, families and companies are severe,” the Dutch King Willem-Alexander said in his speech outlining the government’s spending plans last week.
“It is painful that an increasingly greater number of people in the Netherlands are having trouble paying for rent, groceries and health insurance and their energy bills,” he added.
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“I was shocked, it is terrible,” Minister of Finance Sigrid Kaag told the NOS broadcaster.
“You wonder how bad it can get,” added Micky Adriaansens, the minister of economic affairs.
The cost of living crisis in the country is primarily being driven by higher energy prices, up a staggering 114 percent over September of last year.
Double-digit inflation has been recorded in 10 eurozone countries in September, with Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia all experiencing sky-high inflation at 24.2 percent, 22.5 percent, and 22.4 percent respectively.
Elsewhere, Slovakia has recorded 13.6 percent, while Greece is at 12.1 percent, Belgium is at 12 percent, Austria stands at 11 percent, and Germany and Slovenia have hit 10.9 percent and 10.6 percent, respectively.
