News summary on the way home from work, Subsletter Evening.
"What the hell didn't go up?" is worthy of saying.
Speaking of inflation, it is not to the point of saying that the reins have not been released yet, but the consumer price index in January rose 3.6% compared to last year, recording a 3% increase for four months in a row.
It is said that it is the first time in almost 10 years that the 3% range has risen for four consecutive months.
Do you feel the price increase when shopping, eating out, putting gas in the car, or paying various utility bills?
Let's start by looking at oil prices.
Seoul gasoline price 1,800 won per liter?
The price of gasoline sold at gas stations nationwide in the last week of January was 1,651 won per liter, up 18.9 won from a week ago.
The upward trend is increasing.
On the afternoon of the 4th, when I looked at the Korea National Oil Corporation oil price information site 'Ofinet', the gasoline price rose further to 1,673.87 won on the national average, and the average in Seoul is 1,747.56 won, which is 74 won more expensive than this.
There is also a graph of gasoline sales price trend in Offinet, and if you look at the one-month trend, the upward movement is clear.
International oil prices are also continuing their upward curve. Considering that domestic prices usually rise with a lag of two to three weeks, the rise in gasoline and diesel prices this month should be accepted as a fact.
The selling price of gasoline in Seoul is 1,800 won, and there are signs that it will rise above that.
In order to stabilize domestic oil prices, the government's measures to cut fuel taxes, which were implemented on November 12 last year, are also coming to an end.
International oil prices have been on a steep rise since the third week of last month as geopolitical risks escalated, including the threat of a Russian attack on Ukraine and drone attacks on oil facilities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Despite OPEC+'s policy of increasing oil production, international oil prices have soared to the highest level in over 7 years.
The market is predicting that this trend will continue for some time.
What's not going up?
Statistics Korea released the consumer price trend for January, compared to January a year ago.
Here, too, oil price hikes are remarkably high, up 16.4% from January last year.
Gasoline rose 12.8%, diesel rose 16.5%, and automotive LPG rose 34.5%.
The price of petroleum products is still on the slow side compared to the consumer price trend survey in December of last year, and it was the cost of eating out that pushed up prices more than petroleum products.
It's up 5.5% from a year ago, and it contributed 0.69 percentage points to boosting inflation in January, which is bigger than petroleum in terms of contribution.
Among eating out, sashimi (9.4%) and beef (8.0%) rose the most.
It is said that the rate of increase in food prices is the largest in 12 years and 11 months since the increase of 5.6% in February 2009.
Dining out is included in the price of personal service. In addition to eating out, the price of personal service has risen by 3.9%, with insurance service fees rising by 13.4%.
Personal service prices are also said to be the largest increase in 10 years and 3 months.
The price of agricultural, livestock and fishery products experienced by housewives rose 6.3% from a year ago, and although the increase has decreased compared to the 7% increase for the past two months in a row, it is still at a high level.
Chinese cabbage (56.7%) and strawberries (45.1%), imported beef (24.1%), eggs (15.9%) and pork (10.9%) showed the largest increase.
Green onions (-37.3%), onions (-31.7%), and apples (-16.1%) were found to have fallen.
Statistics Korea explains that this is due to weather conditions such as cold waves and heavy snow in addition to the increase in demand during the Lunar New Year holidays.
Electricity, gas, and water rates rose by 2.9%. In particular, electricity rates rose by 5.0% due to the reduction in the discount for housing essential use deductions applied to general households with low electricity consumption in July last year and the continued fuel adjustment unit price increase in October. .
3% increase for four consecutive months... unpredictable price
So, the consumer price index in January rose 3.6% from a year ago, continuing the 3% increase for four months in a row.
As explained above, although the rise in agricultural, livestock and fishery products and petroleum products has slowed, it is still high, and prices for personal services, including eating out, and utility bills such as electricity, gas, and water have risen a lot, which fueled the inflation.
Excluding changes in prices due to seasonal factors or temporary shocks, there is a separate core price index that shows the basic trend of prices, but it does not include agricultural products and petroleum products.
Core prices rose by 3.0%, and this increase is also said to be the largest in 10 years.
Although the increase in the cost of living, which can be called the perceived price, has decreased slightly since November last year, it is still high at 4.1%.
"Sorry for the high price"... Hong Nam-ki with his head down
Deputy Prime Minister Hong Nam-ki came to the National Assembly and bowed his head.
He said, "I apologize for the fact that inflation is still high," he said, and explained the cause. Domestically, there are interest rates, liquidity problems, and price hikes for items such as livestock and fishery products, but these factors are working together to raise prices higher than expected or expected,” he said.
Will the European Central Bank turn into a 'hawk'?
Inflation is not our only problem.
As inflation continues to skyrocket around the world, central banks around the world are fiddling with interest rate hike cards.
The European Central Bank (ECB) is very cautious about raising interest rates, and the Wall Street Journal in the US predicted that such an ECB may also raise interest rates.
The ECB held a monetary policy meeting and announced that it was "ready to mobilize all appropriate means to stabilize inflation at the medium-term inflation management target of 2%." It was analyzed that it was a result of reflecting the perception of the policy authorities that inflation would not stabilize as quickly as expected as it was in line with the movement of the Federal Reserve (Fed).
Eurostat, the European Union's statistical agency, previously announced that the eurozone's inflation in January jumped 5.1% from a year ago, the highest since statistics were compiled in 1997.
The Bank of England (BOE), the central bank of the UK, has raised interest rates for the second month in a row.
If countries around the world respond by raising interest rates to catch inflation, the stock market may also become unstable, so investors should be cautious.
a piece of the day
Kwak Sang-do, a former member of the People's Strength Council, is present for the second time to receive a warrant.
Former lawmaker Kwak is accused of helping the Daejang-dong development project and taking billions of won in bribes through his son.
Rep. Kwak protested, "Is it possible to arrest a person with the possibility of arresting people?" after the warrant review, regarding the transcript of the conversation between Kim Man-bae, the major shareholder of Hwacheon Daewoo, and Jeong Young-hak, an accountant, saying, "The transcript has no evidence. He strongly denied the allegations."