The relaxation of anti-inflationary measures can be dangerous, the solvency of the population is at stake

By: Trademagazin Date: 2024. 05. 21. 12:18

In the first quarter of this year, the solvency of the Hungarian population improved thanks to falling inflation, however, according to analysts, price increases are expected again. Since the emphasis in economic policy has been on expansive growth, early joy can have a price-increasing effect. The solvency of the population can be expected to weaken again, which could lead to a deterioration of the general standard of living – according to the joint analysis of Intrum and GKI Economic Research.

In the first quarter of this year, the rate of inflation continued to decrease, which led to a further improvement of the Intrum Solvency Index (IFI), which indicates the financial situation of the population. However, on an annual basis, consumer prices continued to rise – by 3.6 percent. The decline in annual inflation is mainly due to the price reduction of manufactured goods, food and market services, which was partially offset by the price increase of fuels and regulated price products.

The increase compared to the previous month temporarily ceased in the last quarter of last year, but in January and March this year it was already 0.6-0.8 percent, indicating that we have not yet recovered from the inflationary shock. At the beginning of 2024, the price of food and services was around the average, but the inflation of pleasure goods and fuel was higher than the average.