The average annual inflation in the European Union accelerated to 2 percent in April from 1.7 percent in March, the European Statistical Office announced on Wednesday.
Inflation in the Czech Republic is the fourth highest in the entire EU, standing at 3.1 percent. Of the 27 member states, prices are rising fastest in Hungary, by 5.2 percent. It is followed by neighboring Poland with inflation of 5.1 percent and Luxembourg with year-on-year price growth of 3.3 percent.
In the eurozone, year-on-year consumer price inflation accelerated from 1.3 percent in March to 1.6 percent. The European Central Bank (ECB) aims to keep price growth below 2 percent.
Euro area annual #inflation up to 1.6% in April https://t.co/1zlpCh7bkp pic.twitter.com/XqYBRuxc2n
— EU_Eurostat (@EU_Eurostat) May 19, 2021
Czech inflation is the fourth highest
In the Czech Republic, inflation reached 3.1 percent, making it the fourth highest in the EU. The Czech National Bank (CNB) has been targeting 2 percent inflation since December 2005 but has a so-called tolerance zone between 1 and 3 percent.
“Inflation has returned above the upper limit of the CNB’s tolerance zone and is even above the central bank’s forecast. At the same time, it will likely continue to stay close to 3 percent,“ said analyst Petr Dufek.
“The central bank has basically no chance to do anything with this year’s inflation, and it will, therefore, focus on meeting its target in 2022, which is not threatened in any way,” he added.
Deflation in Greece and Portugal
The term inflation refers to the growth of the price level, but if prices fall, then a country experiences deflation. This phenomenon is currently observed in two EU countries, Portugal and Greece, where prices fell by 0.1 percent year-on-year.
Inflation is also very low in Malta, where year-on-year consumer price inflation reached 0.1 percent in April.
Title image: In this Monday, FEB. 8, 2021 file photo, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde addresses European lawmakers during a plenary session at the European Parliament in Brussels. The European Central Bank is expected to signal Thursday, April 22, 2021 that even if inflation rises later this year, it won’t consider cutting back support for Europe’s economy, which is lagging the U.S. and China amid a drawn-out struggle with the COVID-19 pandemic. (AP Photo/Olivier Matthys, Pool, File)
