GDP Growth

Consumer price index (CPI) of Euro zone hit 13 years high in October with energy cost contributing most to the increase. Headline inflation come in at 4.1% in October compared to previous month at 3.4%, according to data released by Eurostat. The inflation figures crossed consensus forecast by 0.4%. According to Reuters, this is the highest since July 2008. The record high inflation number is highly contributed by surging energy prices which saw a increase of 23% year-on-year. Euro zone’s GDP data shows 2.2% growth in third quarter compared to previous period. This marks the fastest growth in a year. However, the robust growth could be disrupted by bottlenecked supply chains and shortages in the labor market. European Central Bank’s (ECB) president Christine Lagarde on Thursday noted inflation driven by strained supply chain and energy prices is to take longer than expected to decline. ECB expects inflation to remain below 2% target in the medium term. The current inflation forecast of ECB is at 2.2% in 2021, 1.7% in 2022 and 1.5% in 2023 and is subject to be updated in December.