Austria's inflation hits 70-yr high

Vienna, Oct 20 (IANS) Inflation continues to surge in Austria, reaching 10.5 per cent in September, the highest level since July 1952, official data revealed.Statistics Austria said on Wednesday that the September inflation rate was 1.2 percentage points above that registered in August and exceeded the high inflation levels "during the oil crisis in the 1970s", reports Xinhua news agency.Tobias Thomas, director general of Statistics Austria, said soaring household energy and fuel prices were the strongest drivers of inflation in September.Last week, Austria's central bank (OeNB) revised upwards its inflation forecasts for 2022 through 2024, citing surging energy prices and wage costs. It now expects the country's annual inflation rate to reach 8.5 per cent in 2022, up from its projection of 7.6 per cent in July.The government has introduced several anti-inflation packages to support households and companies, including direct payments to families. However, the OeNB said the packages may fail to have a significant impact. The central bank projects 6.4 per cent inflation in 2023 and 3.7 per cent in 2024.
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