BERLIN (Reuters) – The number of companies in Germany planning to raise their prices rose for the first time in a year in September, a survey by the Ifo economic institute showed, indicating that inflation looks set to remain above the 2% target in the coming months.
For the economy as a whole, Ifo’s price expectations index climbed to 15.8 points in September from 14.7 points in August, ending 12 consecutive months of decline, the institute said on Friday.
“It will be some time before Germany achieves the European Central Bank’s 2% inflation target,” said Timo Wollmershaeuser, ifo’s head of forecasts.
German consumer prices, harmonised to compare with other European Union countries, rose by an annual 4.3% in September, preliminary data from the federal statistics office showed on Thursday. In August, that figure had stood at 6.4%.
Price increases are planned above all in the gastronomy sector: That barometer rose to 62.8 points from 49.1 the previous month.
“There’s good news from the construction industry. Due to the lull in orders, more and more companies want to lower their prices,” Wollmershaeuser said. Price expectations for that sector fell to -12.6 points, down from -10.2 points in August.
(Reporting by Rene Wagner; Writing by Miranda Murray; Editing by Rachel More)
