The rising food prices as a result of the Iran war are becoming an issue for the Federal Government. The Union and SPD task forcewhich had recently dealt with the increased fuel prices, will now look at the costs of food, said the deputy SPD parliamentary group leader Esra Limbacher Rhenish Post.
With each passing day it becomes “more obvious that the war in Iran will not come to a quick end,” said Limbacher. “Higher prices for fertilizer and transport also threaten to increase food prices in the next stage.” The task force will therefore discuss “inflation-stopping measures” next week.
Limbacher suggested an immediate program for domestic fertilizer producers as well as tax relief in the food sector. “Inflation is poison for people with normal incomes and for our economy. We have to protect our population,” he said. If politics are not counteracted, life will become noticeably more expensive for many people.
The task force first examined fuel prices
So far, prices in supermarkets have been largely stable. The Inflation was 1.9 percent in Februaryi.e. close to the European Central Bank (ECB) target of two percent. However, economists expect inflation to increase as a result of the Iran war.
On the The task force was agreed upon by the Union and SPD parliamentary groups in the Bundestag at the beginning of March. The group is led by the parliamentary group vice-presidents for economics and energy, Sepp Müller (CDU) and Armand Zorn from the SPD. The coalition was reacting to the significant increase in the cost of fuel at gas stations as well as heating oil and gas as a result of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
The federal government has so far decided that gas station operators will in future only raise gasoline prices once a day are allowed, while price reductions remain permitted. In addition, oil companies should have to justify a price increase in advance. The draft law has the Bundestag discussed for the first time on Wednesday.