Inflation, the rate at which prices in the shops rise, rose to 3.2 per cent in February according to figures from the Belgian statistics agency Statbel. The figure is higher than expected and up from 1.75 percent last month.
Today’s higher rate can partly be explained as a result of higher wages - the result of earlier sky-high energy prices - only now becoming visible in higher retail prices. The effect of downward pressure on inflation caused by falling energy prices has now also fizzled out.
After seven months of falls, inflation started to rise again last November up from a low of 0.36 per cent in October 2023.
Food still appears to be the biggest "culprit". Inflation for food and alcoholic beverages is down for the 11th month in a row, coming in at 4.65 per cent this month, down from 6.58 per cent in January. In March last year, it was over 17 per cent. Still, food inflation remains markedly higher than overall inflation.
The government’s Planning Office had expected inflation of 2.8 per cent this month. The actual figure is 0.4 percent higher. "The Planning Office only expected inflation to exceed 3 per cent in April," says economist Stijn Baert.
The European Central Bank aims to keep inflation at around 2 per cent. "The fact that we are already well above this 2 per cent is bad news".