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Vegetable shop in Berlin
Photo: Carsten Koall / picture alliance / dpa
The German inflation rate rose above the five percent mark in November for the first time since 1992.
The price of goods and services rose by an average of 5.2 percent compared to the same month last year, as the Federal Statistical Office announced in an initial estimate.
The last time it was higher was during the boom after reunification in June 1992, at 5.8 percent.
In October, inflation was 4.5 percent.
Expensive energy was the main reason for the renewed price hike.
The European Central Bank (ECB) was still calm on Monday morning.
Director Isabel Schnabel said that she expected inflation to peak in November and that inflation will gradually decline again in the coming year.
Accordingly, the inflation rate should fall in the direction of two percent in the coming year, the target of the ECB.
Special effects in the pandemic
Special effects such as the temporary VAT cut last year would then be excluded from the statistics.
"Energy prices will not continue to rise at the same rate either," said Schnabel.
The pandemic-related supply bottlenecks in the economy should also resolve.
The ECB will react if inflation should persist at a level higher than two percent.
"But at the moment it would be a mistake to raise interest rates early and thus slow the upswing, because that would essentially lead to increased unemployment and would not be able to change anything about the current very, very high inflation," said Beak.
hba / Reuters