ifo Price Expectations Rise Slightly
In Germany, slightly more companies than in the previous month intend to raise their prices in April. The ifo price expectations rose a little to 15.1 points in April, up from 14.3 points in March. “Inflation is unlikely to fall any further in the coming months and is set to remain at just over 2%,” says Sascha Möhrle, economic expert at the ifo Institute.
In consumer-related industries, price expectations rose to 25.8 points, up from 24.6 points*. Above all, companies in hospitality (34.4 points, up from 28.9 points*), retailers of games and toys (47.4 points, up from 34.9 points*), and drugstores (45.5 points, up from 18.1 points*) are planning to raise their prices. By contrast, fewer food retailers (17.4 points, down from 37.7 points*), hotel owners (28.5 points, down from 33.4 points*), and tour operators (32.7 points, down from 36.9 points*) are looking to raise prices.
On balance, construction companies are still expecting prices to fall: the index stood at -7.7 points, up from -10.7 points*. Price expectations in manufacturing also slipped to 6.0 points, down from 6.3 points*.
The points for the ifo price expectations indicate the percentage of companies that intend to increase prices on balance. The balance is obtained by subtracting the percentage of companies that want to lower their prices from the percentage of those that want to raise their prices. If all the companies surveyed intended to increase their prices, the balance would be +100 points. If they all wanted to lower their prices, it would be −100. The balance was seasonally adjusted. The ifo Institute does not ask about the amount of the planned price change.
* Seasonally adjusted
