Inflation has risen sharply this month: from 1.65 per cent in March to 4.01 per cent in April. This is mainly due to higher energy prices.
Initially, Statbel, the Belgian statistics service, had not published the monthly inflation figure, "due to a lack of consensus within the index committee". However, the figure was published online yesterday evening after Belgian Economy Minister David Clarinval (Francophone liberal MR) intervened.
It is the Belgian statistics agency Statbel that publishes the inflation figure at the end of each month.
The figure indicates how quickly prices have risen over the course of a year and is an important economic indicator. The indexation of wages and benefits also depends on it.
Minister takes the final decision
However, Statbel issued a remarkable statement yesterday afternoon: no consensus could be reached during this month’s meeting of the index committee, it said.
The committee comprises representatives of trade unions and employers, alongside academics. It appears that it was the employers who blocked the approval.
As a result, no figure could initially be published and it was left to the Economy Minister David Clarinval to take the final decision.
Sharp rise due to energy prices
Finally, after 7 pm, the inflation figure was published online. ‘Inflation now stands at 4.01 per cent, compared with 1.65 per cent in March and 1.45 per cent in February,’ Statbel notes.
Inflation has risen mainly due to the sharp increase in energy prices. The price of natural gas has risen by 22.9 per cent compared to last month, and that of electricity by 5.4 per cent.
Motor fuels were 27.4 per cent more expensive than in April last year and have risen by 12.3 per cent this month compared to last month.