For 31 months, service sector-specific inflation has been greater than two per cent. This is a highly toxic situation, the federal Minister for the Economy, Kris Peeters (Flemish Christian Democrats) considers. He has requested that the FPS Economy orchestrates an investigation into this. This is reported today (Tuesday) in L'Echo and De Tijd.
Kris Peeters is particularly worried by the price hikes in cafés and restaurants, as well as in the telecommunications sector. “Since October 2011, it has been consistently higher than in the eurozone and higher than the average of our three neighbouring countries,” he explains.
He wishes to know why this increase has occurred, and has requested that the FPS Economy launch an investigation, which will be completed in cooperation with the National Bank of Belgium, the Federal Planning Bureau, l'Observatoire des Prix (Belgium’s Price Tracker) and the Belgium Competition Council.
An interim report will be presented in November and a final report in the Spring of 2017.
The Brussels Times
