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Survey by Comparison - Inflation is a cause for concern: isn't it?  - News

Survey by Comparison – Inflation is a cause for concern: isn’t it? – News

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A survey conducted by the online comparison service Comparis showed that four out of five people in Switzerland suffer from stomach aches due to the rate of inflation: families with a gross income of up to 4,000 Swiss francs per month are especially afraid of the negative effects on their finances.

Are the concerns justified? Yes and no, says SRF Business Editor Dario Pelosi, explains: So far, inflation has been a problem mainly abroad, for example in the eurozone or in the USA. In the United States in particular, it increased significantly – to 5 to 6 percent. In Switzerland, the rate of inflation has also increased, “but at about one and a half percent recently, that is fairly within the normal range,” Pelosi explains.

However, if a person has a job that he can hardly fulfill, the concern is, of course, understandable. When products become more expensive, it has a huge impact. Here’s what’s actually happening: The Bakers and Confectioners’ Association recently proposed to its members to increase prices by 5 to 15 percent. “This has a noticeable impact on the wallet.”

Why are so many people worried? Business Editor SRF explains that Swiss residents are very concerned about the question of whether inflation will continue to rise or fall soon. This topic is often the subject of many discussions. “If you also take into account that we are currently in a generally uncertain situation due to the pandemic and maybe also fear for our job, that could cause concern.”

What leads to higher prices? Using the example of the bakers, you can see that in the store you also pay energy prices, raw materials and packaging prices. As companies have made a lot of effort to implement preventive measures and the global crisis has also led to bottlenecks in supply chains, these events have led to an increase in commodity prices. Now companies are increasingly transferring costs to consumers.

Thanks to the strong Swiss franc, we can still afford the goods we import that have become more expensive.

Abroad, the rate of inflation has risen faster than in Switzerland. For any reason? This mainly relates to the strong Swiss franc. This is said to have risen against the more important currencies. This defuses the problem. “This means that we can continue to pay for those goods that we are importing that have just become more expensive,” Pelosi explains.

In the United States, the situation is different: the economy is booming, prices are rising, but there is a shortage of skilled workers, which is why. There were strikes in factories like John Deere, which is unusual for the United States. The people there now want more wages because the products are getting too expensive. “Now it is clear that this spiral between wages and prices is shifting as a result.”

How will inflation develop in Switzerland next year? In its management report in mid-December, the Swiss National Bank assumed an average annual inflation rate of 1% for the next year, Pelosi says. Usually the framework they seek to achieve is between zero and two percent. “However, the past two years of the pandemic have shown that forecasts are not easy to make at the moment,” notes the business editor.