CBS retail data for March shows higher revenue but less volume sold than a year earlier in the same month. This means that prices have gone up. But especially for non-food products, products that are not edible or drinkable, price increases cannot save turnover, says Marijn Jongsma, macroeconomics editor at FD.
According to Jongsma, this is because people are becoming more careful about spending money. “But because prices are high, from a macroeconomic point of view, the money keeps flowing.” Jongsma calls it an important prop for the economy. “Despite everything, consumption remains at a reasonable level.”
Power
This is also due to the fact that the government has somehow protected us from high energy prices, explains Jongsma. “Though now the prices have come down a bit, of course.” The big question at the moment is therefore: what will these energy prices do? “We’re glad it’s low now, but we don’t know what’s going to happen.”
“We don’t know what the impact of the ECB’s steep interest rate hikes will be”
Eurostat is to publish European data on gross domestic product (GDP) this week. Jongsma has already studied what bank economists and other experts predict. ‘Rabobank, for example, expects growth of half a percentage point compared to the previous quarter. That quarter showed a slight contraction from the previous quarter.’ If this happens again, we have to talk about a recession. ‘But with all forecasts summarized, we arrive at a growth of 0.2%. We seem to be escaping a recession.”
The dark cloud currently hanging over the market is that banks are more critical when they grant credit, Jongsma sees. The ECB raised interest rates significantly. We’ve never seen it up to this point. We don’t know what the impact of that will be.’
Source: BNR
Andrew Dwight is an author and economy journalist who writes for 24 News Globe. He has a deep understanding of financial markets and a passion for analyzing economic trends and news. With a talent for breaking down complex economic concepts into easily understandable terms, Andrew has become a respected voice in the field of economics journalism.
