Greek inflation rate up to 7.2% on February

By Magda Panoutsopoulou

ATHENS (AA) - Greece’s annual inflation rate jumped to 7.2% in February from 6.2 % in January, hitting the highest since 1997, the country's statistical authority said on Thursday.

The same data showed a rise from last year’s rates -- minus 1.3% in February 2021.

Finance Minister Christos Staikouras said the rate might rise up to 8% temporarily, depending on developments in the Russia-Ukraine war and natural gas flows.

This increase in inflation stems from the surge in natural gas prices that have skyrocketed to 78% while electricity has also seen a hike to 71.4% and heating oil up to 41.5%, the statistical authority said.

With prices going over the roof for the past months for essential goods, Greeks have been left with bills almost five times higher than the last year, according to experts.

The statistical authority attributed the 7.2% increase in the consumer price index in February to a 7.1% rise in the food and beverage, 5.6% in clothing-footwear, 25.4% in housing, 4.1% in durable goods, 12.2% in transport, 0.9% in education, and 1.7% in the hospitality sector.

"Τhe rising prices are taking on the dimensions of a social crisis. As long as income shrinks and debts increase, as bills for energy, electricity and natural gas multiply and turnover for shop owners drops dramatically, the more we face the danger of having to deal with a social crisis, which will surpass even the difficult moments of the first memorandum years," main opposition SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras said on Thursday while touring the southern city of Kalamata.

“Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is entirely responsible for these tragic conditions in the citizens' day-to-day life.

"He cannot merely look on and be a protector of the cartels in the energy market. He should not, through his stance and his choices, fuel the profiteering that intensifies each day at society's expense," main opposition SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance heads for economy and growth, Effie Achtsioglou and Alexis Charitsis, respectively, said in a joint statement on Thursday, demanding "drastic measures, here and now."