ATHENS: Inflation finally “reared its head” in Greece after 46 straight months of no inflation or even deflation, with January 2017 results showing a slight uptick in prices, a development, however, directly linked to the repercussions of a veritable “avalanche” of direct and indirect tax hikes enacted by the government in 2016.
The statistical service said the inflation rate last month increased by 1.2 percent from the corresponding month in 2016 — the figure for January 2015 was -0.7 percent from the same month in 2015.
The goal of meeting memorandum-mandated fiscal targets was aided by VAT rate hikes, new surcharges on everything from coffee to mobile phone and subscriber TV use, as well as increases in special consumer taxes on fuels — instead of decreases in spending.
January’s results marked the first time since February 2013 when the inflation rate posted an increase. The average index over the February 2016 to January 2017 period showed a decrease of 0.7 percent, as opposed to a drop of 1.6 percent over the previous corresponding one-year period.
