Inflation hits a Record High of 7.4% in Euro-using Countries

Inflation reached a new record for the 19 Euro using countries as fuel prices surged which has been increased by the ongoing Russian-Ukraine conflict. This has eventually added new burdens to household finances and disrupting economic recovery from the latest outbreaks of COVID-19. On Friday, the European Union's statistics agency Eurostat reported that Annual inflation hit 7.5 percent for April, the highest since statistics started in the year 1997 and the sixth record in a row, topping the old record of 7.4 percent in the month of March.

Energy prices increased an alarming 38 percent, an affirmation of how the conflict and the following global energy crunch are affecting the eurozone's 343 million people. The speculations that the conflict might lead to a disruption of oil or gas supplies from the world's largest oil exporter, Russia, have further surged the prices for oil and natural gas higher. IG Metall industrial union of Germany has proposed an annual increase of 8.2 percent for the country's steelworkers going into wage talks.