Unequal inflation, by Santiago Carbó

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It seems that inflation is giving a little respite. Both in Spain and in the euro zone. Our country continues to be an outstanding student since the general index has been 1.9% and the underlying 5.9%. The eurozone average is significantly above the general index (5.5%), although the core is similar (5.4%). The average level of the euro bloc remains relatively high, although it has fallen. The core and feedback of inflation are concerned about the “second round effects” (due to wage growth), of which some representatives of the ECB speak. At the recent Forum of central bankers in the Portuguese city of Sintra, these doubts about whether the battle against inflation has already been won have not been cleared up. On the contrary, the European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve, among other monetary authorities, confirmed that they expect more rate increases in the second half, which points to still persistent inflation, especially when some of the government measures are withdrawn. –in Spain too– that contributed to lowering inflation (fuel aid or VAT reductions.

A customer makes a purchase in a French supermarket Eric Gaillard/Reuters As it cannot be otherwise, these increases in the price of money will be applied equally in all euro countries. And the macroeconomic Job Function Email Database situation is not the same in all corners. Spain, which has the lowest inflation levels, will suffer the same restrictive treatment as a country like Germany with inflation three times higher than Spain's. This is not good news because the increase in the cost of mortgages and other loans for families and businesses is being felt significantly. Likewise, the greatest strength of our country's economic activity may weaken considerably. Some sign already points it out. We are interested in our euro partners having lower inflation. If your economy is vulnerable to inflation, ours will be too.



However, many of them are in technical recession, so a new interest rate joking could further cool their economies, and, undoubtedly, ours. The objective is for inflation to moderate further to return to sustainable growth and greater productivity. This uneven price growth in Europe also affects real interest rates (calculated by subtracting inflation from nominal rates) on the remuneration of debt, credit and savings. As inflation is lower, real rates are, in general, higher in Spain, both official rates and those of certain financial products. This is how the Governor of the Bank of Spain commented a few days ago that there was a relationship between the rates of deposits and mortgages, which in nominal terms are lower in Spain, but not in real terms.