Quotes from Commerzbank:
- After Germany's inflation rate had slid into negative territory in Jan, consumer prices started rising again in February (+0.1%). One reason for the uplift is the increase in energy prices in Feb. But even without energy prices the inflation rate should have increased as the minimum wage, which has been in force since Jan, is driving up prices of certain services such as taxi journeys and restaurant meals. This trend will continue to boost inflation over the further course of the year.
- The minimum wage will continue to exert upward pressure on prices over the further course of the year. According to our calculations, the minimum wage is likely to increase overall wage costs in Germany by 1% in 2015. To this must be added the regular round of wage increases, likely to average 3%.
- We expect that the inflation rate to climb to roughly 2% until year-end 2015. This will result in an overall inflation rate reading of 0.5% for the total year 2015.
