For the fourth month in a row, inflation in Europe reached a new high, prompting doubts about when the central bank should intervene to help people’s wallets while Russia’s invasion of Ukraine shocks the global economy.
According to Eurostat, the European Union’s statistics department, consumer prices in the 19 nations that use the euro currency climbed by 5.8% on an annual basis in February.
The latest figures highlight the continent’s consumers’ continued suffering, adding to the pressure on the European Central Bank to decide when and how to hike interest rates to combat inflation.
The latest inflation reading shattered the previous high of 5.1 percent established last month, bringing the euro to its highest level since records began in 1997.
Inflation has been caused by rising energy prices in Europe, as it has been in other major economies, and the problem will be exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Russia, a major oil and gas producer, has been slammed with sanctions and export limitations, raising fears of a supply disruption, albeit this hasn’t happened yet.