Profits drive prices higher

Corporate profits are fueling inflation to a large extent in Greece and will continue to do so in the coming years, according to the fall forecasts of the European Commission, which confirm previous relevant estimates of the OECD and calculations of other independent bodies, including the Bank of Greece.

In the special chapter of the Commission's report on the factors that contribute to inflation, it is estimated that the countries in which profits (together with taxes) will have the biggest contribution to the rise in prices in the period 2022-2025 are Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Greece and Slovenia. In contrast, the contribution of labor costs is clearly smaller.

In fact, Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni, who was asked about it at Wednesday's press conference presenting the forecasts, gave the green light to salary increases, saying that in many European...