Inflation persists at 3% level

Inflation in Greece is proving to be persistent and with a significant deviation from that of the eurozone, as despite the slight slowdown in its growth rate it remained at the level of 3% in September, while at the same time in the eurozone it stood at 1.8%.

Although this is not the first time that a large discrepancy has been observed between the harmonized consumer price index in Greece and the corresponding one in the eurozone, it is the largest spread recorded in the last 12 months (1.20 percentage point).

Lying behind the persistence of inflation in Greece there are contemporary factors such as the increase in demand for services and foodstuffs during the tourism season, which have a high weighting in the domestic "basket." On top of that are structural problems of the Greek economy, such as the high dependence on energy imports, primary and secondary materials,...