Letter from Germany: Joining hands to overcome the “storm” of inflation

According to a new report by the German Federal Statistics Office (Destatis), the price of household energy and motor fuel in March 2022 increased by 39.5% compared to the same period last year. Natural gas and electricity prices also increased sharply with 144.9 percent. The price of E10 gasoline and diesel oil increased by more than 2 euros per liter.

The German people over the past month have also witnessed a dizzying increase in food prices. Cooking oils became scarce, many supermarkets in a row for days without a bottle of sunflower or canola oil on the shelves. If yes, quantity is also limited.

Each customer is only allowed to buy 1 bottle of cooking oil with a price increase of more than 30%. The price of green vegetables also increased by more than 14%. It is a difficult problem for housewives when food prices are escalating day by day.

A vegetable stall in Giessen – Germany

Economy Minister Robert Habeck recently called on Germans to start saving energy to reduce their dependence on fuel imported from Russia.

He said Germany would be less dependent on Russia for energy if people reduced their household energy consumption (heater, electricity, gas…); restrict travel by private car; actively use public transport and switch to cycling…

According to the German Economy Minister, employers can also allow employees to work from home voluntarily.

The German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government has planned to reduce imports of Russian gas, while actively looking for partners to provide alternative energy sources, such as working with Qatar and Norway on liquefied natural gas (LNG) sources. ).

In addition, the German government also intends to launch practical support packages to help people overcome the current price crisis. Notable is the plan to launch a travel card worth 9 euros/month, allowing users to travel around the country by bus, tram, metro and local train during the summer (June to September). this year).

The purpose of this move is to encourage people to use public transport more. In addition, pensions were increased by 6% – the highest increase in decades.

Income tax payers will receive fuel subsidies during the year. The German government also agreed to temporarily reduce fuel tax for 3 months while income taxpayers will receive a support of 300 euros in the year…

The cooperation of the German people and government is now extremely necessary to save the economy with record inflation.