Romania has the highest inflation in the entire European Union, writes the newspaper "Adeverul" in its article, referring to Eurostat data. The figures show that since 2022, the country has consistently recorded the highest inflation among all Commonwealth countries. In February this year, inflation in Romania was 7.1 percent, BTA reported.
“With this percentage, we are an absolute champion in terms of inflation. A long distance away is Croatia, which ranks second with 4.8 percent, followed by Estonia with 4.4 percent. In comparison, the Eurozone, even if it is facing major economic problems, has an inflation rate of only 2.8 percent, notes “Adeverul”.
The publication asks the economist Adrian Negrescu what generates this inflation, for which the Romanian state cannot find a cure. “This is related to the interest of the state, first of all, to raise prices and collect more money for the budget from fees and taxes. This is the hidden tax that the state has been cynically charging us for two years now, without any remorse, cutting us off from our economic potential, hitting our purchasing power hard. The state does this only from the point of view of the desire to save itself, in practice, to save the budget, to save itself the big expenses that it makes without warning in any areas that are not related to economic development,”, the expert explains.
He adds that inflation has a huge impact on the population and the standard of living is deteriorating day by day. Adrian Negrescu commented that because of the prices, more and more Romanians are returning to the cheapest products in supermarkets and to the menu of the 90s, with margarine and potatoes, because they simply cannot afford anything else.
The economist also gives a forecast for the coming months. “I think that services will be at the forefront of price appreciation this year. This has been felt since the fourth quarter of last year, when we saw a significant increase in the prices of services”, concludes Adrian Negrescu.