Mujagic points out that this is the first estimate from Statistics Netherlands, and that therefore it is limited data. “However, if you look at developments in the Netherlands, you see that wage increases have been considerable in recent months,” Mujagic explains. “So that must have had an effect on that data.”
“Wage increases in the Netherlands have been considerable in recent months”
Furthermore, according to Mujagic, it is evident that the decline in energy prices in other countries has a faster effect on the inflation rate than in the Netherlands, which in turn has to do with the energy price cap introduced by the countries Low. “This cushions the downward pressure on inflation.”
Salary increases
Take wage increases that are visible in more and more industries, and it’s no surprise, according to Mujagic, that the prices of services and goods are rising substantially. “So if you take it together: The damping effect is less with us, while the upward effect is very strong,” he says. “And so inflation goes up, while in other countries it goes down.”
According to Mujagic, the fact that the prices of goods and services are rising in the Netherlands is mainly due to the fact that companies also face high costs, such as wage increases. “But companies also anticipate, of course,” he says. ‘And I can well imagine that there are quite a few companies in the Netherlands who think that the cost increases they have experienced will continue. That’s why they may have raised prices further.
To deposit
Mujagic understands this too, especially as the trend seems to indicate that wage increases will remain high for the time being. “By waiting for employees to ask for higher wages, as a company you obviously already raise those prices,” he concludes. “I don’t know if you should call it a grab-flation, but that’s what any rationally thinking company would do.”