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Inflation reached the highest levels in nearly four decades in both France and Spain, statistics showed on Friday.
France’s yearly Consumer Price Index (CPI) is predicted to surge by 6,1 percent in July, the highest since 1985, the French National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) said on Friday in its provisional estimation.
According to the INSEE, the rise of the CPI should result from “the acceleration of service prices linked to the summer period, food prices and, to a lesser extent, manufactured good prices.”
The rise in prices is likely to continue for some time, according to the Le Figaro daily newspaper.
“In its latest economic report, at the end of June, INSEE indicated that it expected a continuous rise in prices, up to ‘a little less than 7 percent in September’ over one year,” Le Figaro reported.
The INSEE predicted an annual CPI rise of 5,5 percent, while the Banque de France, the central bank of France, expected inflation of 5.6 percent this year in its latest macroeconomic projections.
Spanish inflation reached its highest level in 38 years, as it rose to 10,8 percent in July, climbing from the June level of 10,2 percent, according to the preliminary data published by the Spanish Statistical Office (INE) on Friday.
Despite a drop in fuel prices, the continuing inflation resulted from increases in the cost of food and non-alcoholic drinks, as well as rises in the price of clothing and footwear.
The rate of core inflation, excluding volatile items such as energy costs and food, also continued to rise in Spain and reached 6,1 percent in July, the highest since January 1993.
INE’s preliminary data also showed that Spain’s GDP rose by 1,1 percent in the second quarter of the year. – Xinhua
Online Reporter