7 hours agoTIME: More Consumer Prices Increase in Kosovo
Periskopi(5 years ago)
(5 years ago)If in 2019 a consumer bought 1kg of wheat flour, 1 lit of oil, 1kg of cheese, and 30 pieces of eggs, with an average price would need 8 euros and 66 cents. A year later, in 2020, the same products would need 8 euros [...]
The August 2021 data, published by the Kosovo Statistics Agency, shows there has been an increase in monthly and annual inflation. Monthly inflation was higher at an average of 1.2% in August 2021, compared to July 2021. But, the annual inflation rate measured in August 2021 compared to August last year, was higher at an average of 4.7%.
In the meantime, all the above - mentioned articles have seen price increases. In August 2021, the price of bread and cereals increased by 1.9%, of cheese and eggs by 7.4%, and the much larger growth had oils and food fats by 28.5%, compared to prices they had in August 2020. So, even 8 Euro and 94 cents wouldn't be enough for a consumer in Kosovo to buy these four products that he bought even cheaper years ago.
How did inflation last for months during 2021?
When we analyze the data from the past eight months of 2021, in terms of the harmonised consumer price index, we see that there has been an increase in inflation in five months. While June was the only month that had no monthly inflation change, annual inflation by June 2020 was 2.4%.
But why did the prices rise?
In August 2021, consumer prices in our country rose by 4.7%. But this growth was not just in Kosovo. In August 2021, annual inflation marked the countries of the region, where Albania saw price hikes of 2.4%, Montenegro with 3.1%, northern Macedonia with 3.6%, until Serbia marked the highest inflation in the region for this period of 4.3%.
Consumer price increases included other countries from which our country imports high amounts of various products. And since Kosovo has negative balance, so it imports more than it exports, it makes it conditional that even inflation is imported.
Increasing inflation around the globe, according to Forbes, comes as a result of opening the economy after introducing the pandemic to control, which led to increased demand from consumers, plus restrictions on supply chain. This explains that many companies face difficulties finding raw materials as well as the workforce to produce their products. All of this, coupled with increased consumer demand, constituted the main catalyst for rising inflation.
In 2020, the worldwide inflation rate reached approximately 3.2 per cent compared to the previous year. Inflation is often defined as a steady increase in the overall level of goods and services prices. However, economists' expectations are that inflation in 2021 will ease once the key obstacles are eased, but will still be higher than the 2016-19 average before pandemic. In short, higher inflation is likely to stay with us for a while.
