Price increases were to be expected during the economic recovery from the pandemic, but Russia’s war against Ukraine further stoked inflation mainly through higher energy prices, German Finance Minister Christian Lindner said in a media interview.
"The inflation is a real threat. Many people feel it when they look into the fridge,” Lindner said in the interview with T-Online.de published on Saturday. A stronger dollar compared to the euro adds to inflation as well, he said.
The European Central Bank is in charge of monetary policy and has "a very big responsibility,” Lindner said. "We all need to present ourselves very decisively and act, so that the situation gets under control,” he said.
On Thursday, the ECB brought down the curtain on years of ultra-loose monetary policy, committing to a quarter-point increase in interest rates next month and signaling a bigger hike in the fall.
