After prolonged criticism, the federal government decided on Wednesday to take further measures against inflation in the country – and thus again faced headwinds. Too little and effective too late, was stated immediately after the announcement on Wednesday. Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler (Greens) now opposes this, but also tempers expectations.
Kogler was convinced that the effects would soon become apparent and at the same time warned that one should not expect “prices to be capped overnight”. “You have to be careful,” the vice chancellor said during a visit to Vorarlberg.
Further increases “will not be accepted”
The aim is also to maintain the relatively high purchasing power of the Austrians. Important investments have already been made here, for example with tax cuts, the abolition of cold progression and anti-inflation compensation. “We’ve also been criticized for doing too much,” Kogler said.
Further increases in food and energy costs will not be accepted. “We’re not watching anymore,” he said.
Is the threat alone enough?
By funneling excess profits from the energy companies – “the numbers prove it” – more should get to the people quickly. The law on skimming profits will go into effect as early as June, “it couldn’t be any faster,” says Kogler. Effects should then become visible and he hoped that the announcement of the measure would already cause price falls.
Also in the food sector “we are now entering everywhere”. They rely on more transparency and more competition scrutiny.
Vorarlberg is concerned about investments
The governor of Vorarlberg, Markus Wallner (ÖVP), representing the owner of the state energy supplier illwerke vkw, wants to “take a very close look” at the announced tightening of the Energy Crisis Contribution Act. The company has only made a conservative estimate that runs into the high single-digit millions.
In any case, balancing and pumped storage energy must be excluded, he stressed, which is necessary for the success of the energy transition. In case of interventions, he sees the risk of a dampening of investments, in the worst case the measure reduces the investment capacity of the company and has no effect.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
