Food inflation did not even manage to stabilize this month, according to Eurostat’s data announced on Monday.
Despite the fact that this year’s July prices are now compared with the very high prices of the corresponding month last year, the rate of change, instead of decreasing, continues to rise: 10.9% in July from 10.7% in June.
This practically means soaring prices in basic products. Hopes that we would see (at least) single-digit rates of change in food prices over the summer have been dashed and interest is now focused on whether there will be a de-escalation – at least in the rate of change – in the last quarter of the year. July was also a month of “resurgence” for the overall inflation index in Greece, which is now “running” at a rate of 3.4% from 2.8% in June.
There are three reasons for the reversal of the downward trend: First, the continued rally in food prices, secondly, the start of the process of dealing with the rate of decline in energy prices, and thirdly, core inflation, which moved in July at higher levels compared with the previous month.
