High inflation: will people have enough to live on?
Inflation in the Eurozone is currently unusually high at 5.8 percent - and there is no sign of the war in Ukraine abating or the soaring prices for energy, food and raw materials on the global market going down. Life is becoming more expensive - and it is questionable whether wages and pensions will rise accordingly. But the problem has very different repercussions for rich and poor countries.
Daily bread at stake in poor countries
The consequences of inflation will hit countries with lower wage levels harder, Új Szó stresses:
“The number of those who are starving has already risen worldwide as a result of the pandemic. The ongoing war is now exacerbating this problem. The longer it continues, the higher the number of victims and the greater the suffering and economic downturn will be worldwide. In richer countries, where the average wage is two, three or even ten times higher than here [in Slovakia] - while bread costs the same there as it does here - the population will no doubt have an easier time surviving these months and years.”
We have to make do with less for now
Finns can and must tighten their belts, Iltalehti urges:
“Substantial wage increases won't pose a problem for competitiveness if the same or larger increases are made in Finland's competitor countries. Fortunately, we are helped by the fact that Finnish inflation is still at tolerable levels by international standards. Hopefully, people in Finland will understand that rising raw material costs don't give Finns more leeway for wage increases. To some extent, we also have to accept that Russia's brutal military actions and the corresponding sanctions will leave us poorer, at least for a while. But that is a small price to pay compared to the price the Ukrainian people are paying for their freedom.”