Overview
- The inflation rate, which the federal statistics office reported Wednesday, rose to 2.9% year on year as energy costs climbed 10.1%.
- Core inflation eased to about 2.3%, signaling that the latest price rise is still concentrated in energy rather than spread across the economy.
- The federal government’s two‑month fuel‑tax cut starts May 1 and runs through June 30, lowering gasoline and diesel taxes by roughly 17 euro cents per liter.
- Early checks question how much drivers will save, with SWR and Benzin.jetzt flagging about 60,000 suspected violations of the new noon‑only price‑hike rule and tactics that raise prices just outside the allowed window.
- Economists warn that a longer blockade at the Strait of Hormuz could lift costs across supply chains and alter the policy outlook, while no rate increase is expected at the European Central Bank’s meeting on Thursday.