Alex Trelinski
THE Bank of Spain has offered little respite to food shoppers with its prediction on Wednesday that double-digit food inflation will continue for the rest of the year.
The good news is that the general average inflation rate forecast for 2023 is 3.7%- 1.8% lower than its last prediction made last December.
The Bank says that is down to energy prices being 13.6% down on last year.
The bad news is the cost of food with earlier forecasts raised by 4.4%, with December 2023’s annual rate projected to be 12.2%.
Food inflation reached a record level of 16.6% last month in spite of tax cuts on basic foodstuffs.
The Bank of Spain’s director of Economics and Statistics, Angel Gavilan, did however state that the tax reduction had kept prices down across 90% of ‘designated’ products.
Pressure on food prices will continue but at lower rates, with 4.6% rises projected for next year, and 3.3% in 2025.
The general inflation rate is predicted to be 3.6% in 2024, falling to 1.8% the following year.
The Bank of Spain is forecasting economic growth(GDP) to be 1.6% this year- 0.3% more than in their last forecast in December.
READ MORE:
- Food inflation in Spain reaches record levels despite January tax cuts
- Food inflation remains at over 15% in Spain despite January tax cut
- Consumer group in Spain says supermarkets are not lowering tax on some basic foods
