Energy price falls spark drop in German and Spanish inflation – Headline pressures ease but investors bet ECB will have to raise interest rates in May.
Some members of the governing council have called for the bank to adopt a more cautious approach after raising interest rates by half a percentage point this month.
The turmoil in the banking sector has also opened up the prospect of a potential credit crunch that could slam the brakes on both inflation and growth in the coming months.
Because none of them will be running.
You know. Glass half full and all that?
Strike over pay paralyzes rail, air travel in Germany – Trains, planes and public transit systems stood still across much of Germany on Monday as labor unions called a major one-day strike over salaries in an effort to win inflation-busting raises for their members.
The 24-hour walkout — one of the biggest in decades — also affected cargo transport by rail and ship, as workers at the country’s ports and waterways joined the strike.
When prices rise, people buy less. Who would have expected that?
German retail sales post surprise plunge in December amid rising prices – German retail sales unexpectedly fell in December as a Christmas shopping period weighed down by high inflation and the energy crisis revived fears of a more marked slowdown in Europe’s largest economy.
Retail sales decreased by 5.3% in December compared with the previous month, the federal statistics office said on Tuesday. Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast a 0.2% rise in price-adjusted terms.
What’s not to like?
Oh, yeah. Commercial real estate is taking a dive now too.
German Real Estate Deals Plunged 50% in Fourth Quarter, BNP Says
Germany’s real estate market took a deep hit in the fourth quarter as investors shied away from deals on the back of soaring financing costs.
Total investments in the country’s commercial property sector only reached €9.9 billion ($10.6 billion) in the last three months of 2022, a decline of 50% compared with the five-year average for the period, according to a report released by BNP Paribas’ real estate unit on Monday. The development is largely due to soaring interest rates, a weakening economy and record inflation, it said.
7% may be what the finance minister sees but 11% (at least) is what everybody gets.
Germany’s finance minister sees 2023 inflation at 7% – Germany’s finance minister expects inflation in Europe’s biggest economy to drop to 7% this year and to continue falling in 2024 and beyond, but believes high energy prices will become the new normal.
Because things are looking better.
Because once things start looking better, they can only get worse.
German businesses expect only mild recession as disruptions ease – German companies expect only a mild recession next year despite headwinds from the energy crisis, raw material shortages and a tepid global economy, a survey of major associations published by Reuters on Tuesday showed.
There have been growing signs that the German economy could stave off the worst of an economic downturn triggered by a plunge in energy supply from Russia after the Ukraine invasion.
Inflation to 11.3% in November from a high of 11.6% the month prior as energy prices eased. The German government has predicted the economy will grow by 1.4% this year and next year.
That means no (more) Germany going it alone.
That’s a very popular political mantra here. You normally hear it right before Germany goes it alone again.
France and Germany’s relationship questioned as Scholz goes alone on policy – Germany has been criticized for approving a 200 billion euro ($200.2 billion) rescue package.
Fresh tensions between France and Germany are challenging their relationship at a time when their unity is critical for broader European policy in tackling the energy crisis.
The leaders of the two nations will meet in Paris on Wednesday, but this encounter almost got canceled.
That means all-time low.
Buying mood in Germany drops to all-time low – Consumer sentiment in Germany has reached an all-time low due to the high cost of living. The consumer barometer of the German Retail Association (HDE) fell for the third month in a row, reaching a value of 84.14 points in October, the association announced on Tuesday. The value had already fallen to 90.53 at the beginning of the Corona crisis in April 2020 but then temporarily rose again to more than 100.
Consumer pessimism is expected to have a “negative impact on private consumption in the coming months,” the association said.
That means, roughly, “this surely must be a record.”
The last time we had inflation like this was way back during… Holy Scheiße!
German inflation hits 70-year high as economists warn of deep recession risk – September figure of 10.9% comes as institutes outline how gas shortages could hit growth in 2023.
That means tax revenues.
How’s it go again? The bigger they are, the harder their tax revenues fall? Jeepers. I wonder why tax revenues would be falling in Germany these days. It’s not like businesses are only just beginning to go bankrupt thanks to Germany’s dependency on Russian gas, Green utopian make-believe, skyrocketing energy costs and the resulting crazy inflation. It must be something else.
German tax revenues fall in August for first time this year – Federal and state government tax revenues fell in Europe’s biggest economy during August for the first time this year, the finance ministry said on Thursday.
Observing Hermann 