Spanish experts warned on Tuesday that prices moderated in November to 6.8% compared with October’s 7.3 %, but, due to lower fuel and electricity prices, it remains above-trend.
The inflation rate has been falling for four consecutive months, from the peak of 10.8% it reached in July, According to the Spanish Consumer Price Index (CPI) published on Tuesday by the Iberian country’s National Statistics Institute (INE), EURACTIV’s partner EFE reported.
This evolution was mainly due to the fall in fuel prices, which rose in November 2021, and electricity, with a greater decrease than last year, the INE reported.
A more moderate increase in new season prices for clothing and footwear compared with November 2021 also played a role, albeit to a lesser extent, experts warned.
November is the fourth month in a row with a falling inflation rate in Spain. “The trend towards moderation that began last summer continues,” sources in the Spanish Finance Ministry stated on Tuesday.
The same sources recalled that the CPI has fallen four points in the last four months, which places Spain as “one of the countries with the fastest and most intense (inflation) decrease in the European Union” and highlighted “the positive impact of all measures put in place (by the Government) to cushion the rise in prices.”
On the other hand, Spanish core inflation, which does not include fresh food or energy, has risen slightly – one-tenth of a percentage point – to 6.3% in November, narrowing the gap with the general rate to just half a point, the INE stressed.
On a monthly basis, consumer prices recorded a rate of -0.1% in November compared with October, according to the leading indicator of the CPI.
Earlier this month, Spanish trade unions UGT and CC.OO, staged a mass demonstration in Madrid to protest against soaring energy prices, under the slogan ‘wage or conflict’.
They urged the Spanish Confederation of Business Organisations (CEOE) to raise salaries and make an effort to help the vulnerable cope with inflation.
(Fernando Heller | EuroEFE.EURACTIV.es)
Source: euractiv.com
