Greek annual inflation rate slowed to 3% in April, from 4.6% in March and 10.2% in April last year, reflecting almost exclusively a rapid fall in energy prices. However, prices in food and food items grew 11.4% in the same month, Greek Statistics Authority ELSTAT said on Wednesday.
Price Increases
Price increases were recorded in bread/cereals (13.8%0, meat (12%), fish (4.5%), dairy/eggs (19.1%), oils (16.2%), vegetables (6.2%), sugar/chocolate/sweets (11%), other food (14.6%), coffee/tea (12.1%), mineral water/juices (8.5%) and alcohol (10.1%).
Clothing/footwear (5.6%), rents (3.8%), house repair (5.3%), LPG (11%), solid fuel (29.6%), furniture (7.7%), home equipment (7.4%), pharmaceuticals (13.9%), medical products (2.2%), new cars (7.6%), used cars (10.5%), motorcycles (7.3%), car parts (12.2%), taxi (32.9%), air travel (34.1%), ship travel (11.2%), cinemas/theater (5.6%), hotels (22.2%), etc.
Price Decreases
Prices fell in electricity (29.9%), natural gas (25.1%), heating oil (20.7%), fuel/lubricants (7.4%) and telephone services (1.8%).
ELSTAT attributed the decline in the consumer price index in April to increases of: 11.4% in food/beverage, 4% in alcohol, 5.6% in clothing/footwear, 10.9% in durable goods, 6.5% in health, 1.4% in transport, 3.7% in entertainment, 2.2% in education, 8.5% in hospitality and 6.4% in other goods and services.
The CPI fell 13.4% in housing and 1.8% in communications.
Consumer price index rose 0.6% in April from March 2023, after a 2.1% increase recorded in the same period last year.
The country’s harmonized inflation rate slowed to 4.5% in April this year from April 2021, after a 9.1% increase recorded in the same months in 2022/2021.
The harmonized inflation rate rose 1.1% in April from March 2023.
Wholesale food prices have been falling globally for quite some time. See graph https://www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/worldfood/images/home_graph_2_may115.jpg Overall index is 19.7% below the April 2022 level [UK supermarkets have cut some prices as a result of criticism]. In fact, they have increased slightly for the first due to price of sugar rising. Competition, instead of implicit collusion, ought to reduce food prices. And perhaps, diets with less sugar. But in Greece [not helped by Troika’s ‘competitive’ reforms] what competition?
All of which are more difficult to afford, as the ‘troika’ targeted individuals (corrupt ones make great headlines) and the labour market & ignored the product market – who now eat cheap labour and complain there is isn’t enough of it (labour shortages). The labour market is even less competitive than before the visit of the ‘Trioka” as, with employees having even less negotiating power, it’s a buyer’s market for labour. The ‘free market” that is suppose raise wages when there are labour shortages is non-existent.
The Greek reality is controlled markets and controlled labor with little consumer power. The market structure is not the one learned by heart in Greek schools etc where followers kiss the “holy cross” of demand and supply (diagrams).
Just as monopolistic power exploits & separates each buyer by their ability to pay (different prices if you are a pensioner, student or whatever identity), monopsony power exploits to limit each employee’s need to work and separates them. There is no need to raise wages when there is pool of workers with restricted freedoms that can be kept separated. Promoting prejudices, racism and fear of the ‘other’ is profitable
Greece has, in effect, a government that allocates monospony power to enable the exploitation of its own people. EU/Troika reforms (wage suppression) increased monospony power harming both locals and migrants. Wages fell and unemployment rose. In monospony markets the opposite is needed to restore efficiency. What should also be in school’s economic textbooks is this … a fuller but slightly more technical explanation at wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopsony#Welfare_implications