European companies have not yet faced the real energy prices, but the population will not be much better off either.
German industrial players will have to spend at least 40 percent more on energy this year than they did in 2021, before the energy crisis caused by the Russian-Ukrainian war, reports Reuters. The paper refers to a recently published study by the international insurance company Allianz Trade, which was based on expiring contracts and delayed wholesale price effects.
"The big energy price shock is still ahead of European companies"
- can be read in the study. In 2022, it was still possible to moderate higher corporate utility bills, as the long lead time of wholesale markets and government interventions mitigated the immediate impact of soaring prices, which arose because Russia curbed energy exports to the West.
The price increases across Europe will hit corporate profits by 1-1.5 percent and lead to a decrease in investments, which in the case of Germany, based on Allianz Trade's estimates, would mean 25 billion euros (about HUF 940 billion).
However, the study also notes that the finances of German companies can be said to be stable, and the state-imposed gas price ceiling could be helpful.
In 2022, real wages also decreased at a rapid pace: In the first quarter by 1.8 percent, in the second by 4.4 percent, in the third quarter by 5.7 percent, after already being 1.4 percent lower in the last quarter of 2021. Meanwhile, inflation reached an average of 7.9 percent in 2022, but it is above 20 percent for food, while wages and salaries show an increase of between three and four percent.
The situation of pensioners is particularly difficult. In 2022, pensions rose by 5.35 percent in the West, and by 6.12 percent in the East - due to the high number of very low pensions. In 2023, the situation will be even worse, during the summer, pensions will rise by 3.5 and 4.2 percent, which means that they will not even keep up with the still-rapid inflation.
The inflationary reduction of pensions is a conscious policy, since according to the government's judgment, the public finances cannot support the pensioners at the usual level.
On the other hand, there is money for everything else - for example, high-quality care for the four to five million migrants, Neokohn has already reported on several times.
The situation for those living on wages and salaries will not improve in 2023 either. The rate of inflation will hardly decrease, according to official statements, it will probably hover around six percent, while workers in no economic sector can expect wage increases of a similar magnitude.
The same is true for savings. Although current accounts and bank deposits contained approximately the same amounts in 2022 as in the previous year, their real value was nine percent lower than in 2021.
After the price of real estate started to fall in recent months, the value of the assets of the Germans is also decreasing.
The mainstream media either simply acknowledges impoverishment as a stroke of fate, or blames it on capitalism. He is profoundly silent about the fact that impoverishment is a desirable consequence of the government's conscious policy, since we are thereby saving our planet.
Featured image: Twitter
