Annual urban inflation in Egypt jumped to 32.7% in March, its highest level since 2017, data from the national statistics agency CAPMAS showed on Monday. The increase has been driven by a sharp rise in food prices and the devaluation of the Egyptian pound.   

While consumer prices grew less than economists expected, inflation was still higher than the 31.9% recorded in February, led by a 62.9% rise in food and beverage costs.   

On a monthly basis, urban inflation growth slowed to 2.7% in March, down from 6.5% in February and 4.7% in January.  

Soaring prices are attributed to a plunge in the national currency following a series of devaluations over the last year. Surging seasonal demand during the month of Ramadan, high fuel prices and a shortage of raw materials, as well as a lack of foreign currency were also blamed for soaring consumer prices.  

A major importer of commodities, Egypt has devalued its currency three times since last March, further lifting the costs of most foreign goods.    

Skyrocketing inflation has also dealt a blow to Egyptian households as half of its 104 million people are now living near or below the poverty line.  

In an effort to contain prices, the Egyptian central bank raised interest rates in March by 200 basis points, although analysts have doubted that the measure will bring immediate relief.  

As pressure on the country’s financial system mounts, authorities are seeking ways to boost foreign investment, including plans to sell stakes in a number of domestic companies.

RT 10/4/2

DC

 The cost of eating at restaurants in the US outpaced grocery prices on a 12-month basis in March for the first time since mid-2021, Labor Department data showed on Wednesday.

According to the calculations, restaurant prices have risen 8.8% over the last 12 months, surging for the third consecutive month and up by 0.6% from February. Meanwhile, grocery, or ‘food at home’, inflation has risen by 8.4% year-on-year, dropping 0.3% from February.

The data may be a bad sign for the American restaurant industry, analysts say, which has already been struggling as consumers cut back on eating out in an attempt to save money amid the cost-of-living crisis. According to CNBC, many restaurants have recently been hiking prices to avoid a drop in their profit margins, forcing consumers to further limit their restaurant visits or spend less when they eat out.

However, Bruce Grindy, the chief economist from the National Restaurant Association, said the statistics may have been distorted by the increase in food prices at schools due to the expiry of free lunch programs that were set up during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“As a result, this price index rose sharply in recent months, which is putting upward pressure on the overall food-away-from-home index,” he wrote in a blog post on Wednesday, as cited by CNBC. He noted that he expected this index to continue muddling the overall food-away-from-home readings until the fourth quarter of the year.

RT 15/4/23

DC

The number of bankruptcies in the Netherlands has more than doubled in the first quarter of 2023, the NL Times portal reported on Sunday, citing data by Faillissements Dossier.

According to the report, cafes, restaurants, retail shops and online retailers have been the most affected businesses.

Some 781 companies and institutions reportedly went bankrupt in the country from January to March, compared to 506 a year earlier. The number of bankrupt cafes and restaurants nearly tripled to 54, the data showed.

The report attributed the growing number of insolvencies in the Eurozone’s fifth-largest economy to a sharp increase in energy prices and high inflation levels.

The Statistics Netherlands agency (CBS) said last month it would change the way it measures energy prices paid by consumers in order to improve estimates of inflation. According to CBS, it will start using transaction data from energy suppliers to determine the real costs for consumers.

Credit insurer Atradius earlier forecast that more than 4,000 companies in the Netherlands could go bankrupt in 2023 due to high energy costs, rising interest rates, and high wage demands.

RT 11/4/23

DC

 UK consumers slashed spending on luxuries and dining out in March as household incomes continue to suffer amid stubborn double-digit inflation, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, citing Barclays data.   

More than half of Barclays cardholders cut spending on luxury items and one-off treats, while six in ten trimmed expenses on eating out and purchases of new clothes, the bank said after analysing data on credit and debit card transactions.   

According to the lender, overall consumer spending grew 4% last month from a year earlier, with expenses in supermarkets climbing 7.8% – well below the rate of increase in prices for food and non-alcoholic drinks.  

Overall inflation for food and non-alcoholic beverages surged to 18% in February, the highest level since 1977.

The data indicates that British consumers are increasingly changing their shopping habits to save money amid the worsening cost-of-living crisis. Cash-strapped households are becoming more exposed as wage growth fails to keep pace with the biggest jump in prices in 40 years.

Annual inflation unexpectedly rose to 10.4% in February, marking the sixth straight month in double digits and placing further pressure on UK households.

RT 12/4/23

DC

 Argentinian inflation saw an enormous year-on-year surge to 104.3% in March, marking the highest annual rate since 1991, according to data released by the National Institute for Statistics and Census (INDEC) on Friday.

The inflation-rate reading for the month came in at 7.7%, higher than the median forecast of 7% among analysts polled by Bloomberg. Economists surveyed by Reuters had provided a more pessimistic outlook of 7.1%.

Total inflation for the first three months of the year was 21.7%. In February, the inflation rate hit 102.5%, meaning the price of many consumer goods has more than doubled since the same period a year ago.

The highest increase and the biggest influence on the overall index came from the cost of education, which saw a month-on-month surge of 29.1%. The massive increase was attributed to the start of the school year.

Clothing as well as food and non-alcoholic beverages, where the hike was caused mainly by the cost of meat, dairy products and eggs, increased by 9.4% and 9.3% month-on-month respectively. Also, due to a breakout of avian flu in Argentina, prices for chicken and eggs soared over 25%.

Argentina has been among the countries with the highest inflation rates for several years in a row. Buenos Aires has long tried to contain inflation but divisions have marred the nation’s economic policy. Last summer, three economy ministers succeeded one another in the space of just four weeks as the economic crisis deepened.

In December, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved another $6 billion of bailout money. It was the latest payout for Argentina in a 30-month programme that is expected to reach a total of $44 billion.

RT 15/4/23

DC

 One of the talks at this year’s  Summer School! will be given by Bill Martin.  He will entertain and enlighten us on ‘The Mysteries of the Pyramids’.   These ancient monuments are a testament to the skills and abilities of humanity through the ages: and they are also clues as to how and why people laboured in the past. This talk will look at some of this evidence, and use it to discuss how human labour time is a constant factor in historical modes of production whilst also varying in how and why it was used. It will also look at how this evidence of human ingenuity is refracted through a modern ideological prism.

 According to Karl Marx, the Marxist revolution would be led by enlightened leaders, known as “the vanguard of the proletariat.” 

There are only two things certain in life – death and taxes. Christopher Bullock (1716)

With the transition to a money-free, class-free society one of these will no longer exist.

“Progressive” politicians, and their supporters, can often be heard hollering the slogan, ‘Tax the rich!’  Labour politician Denis Healey said, ‘until the pips squeak.’ It is not surprising that  the capitalist class should resist attempts to reduce the wealth accumulated from the exploitation of the working class.

“A  record number of super-rich Norwegians are abandoning Norway for low-tax countries after the centre-left government increased wealth taxes to 1.1%.

More than 30 Norwegian billionaires and multimillionaires left Norway in 2022, according to research by the newspaper Dagens Naeringsliv. This was more than the total number of super-rich people who left the country during the previous 13 years, it added. Even more super-rich individuals are expected to leave this year because of the increase in wealth tax in November, costing the government tens of millions in lost tax receipts.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/10/super-rich-abandoning-norway-at-record-rate-as-wealth-tax-rises-slightly

The Socialist Party of Great Britain provides a more relevant solution to the problem of the capitalist class and their continued clinging to wealth and to power.

Don’t tax the rich – Abolish them 

http://socialiststandardmyspace.blogspot.com/2022/04/dont-tax-rich-abolish-them-2021.html

 The price Kiwis pay for nationwide overnight postage is “ridiculously cheap” and should cost at least twice as much, the chief executive of listed company Freightways says.

Mark Troughear said on the Herald’s Stock Takes podcast that overnight $3 postage to get a small parcel from the North Island to the South was “chronically underpriced” for the undertaking required, using expensive aircraft and often unsuitable roads.

“The reality is we have some services that are just chronically underpriced. It’s nuts.

“It’s a phenomenally high level of service … For a ridiculously cheap price.”

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/stock-takes-postage-in-nz-chronically-underpriced-freight-ceo-warns/NZBO7GGBEJHP3OXCKD3UJNZFGE/

 ‘Chomsky: The Global South is calling for some negotiated settlement to put an end to the horrors before they get worse. Of course, the Russian invasion was a criminal act of aggression. No question about that. Ukrainians have a right to defend themselves. I don’t think there should be any question about that either...

Barsamian: The lunatics seemingly control the asylum. What signs of sanity are out there to counter the lunatics?

Chomsky: Plenty. There’s lots of popular activism. It’s in the streets. Young people calling for the decent treatment of others. A lot of it is very solid and serious. Extinction Rebellion..’.

Once upon a time he had some better ideas including:

‘Presupposing that there have to be states is like saying, what kind of feudal system should we have that would be the best one? What kind of slavery would be the best kind?’ (Manufacturing Consent, 1988).

‘A democratic revolution would take place when it is supported by the great mass of the people, when they know what they are doing and they know why they are doing it and they know what they want to see come into existence. Maybe not in detail but at least in some manner. A revolution is something that great masses of people have to understand and be personally committed to’ (Linguistics and Politics, September–October 1969, New Left Review).