Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe has said that the Government will be watching to ensure that companies are not “profiteering” as prices begin to come down.
He made the comments as a new study from Kantar showed that food inflation had fallen slightly for the first time in two years.
Although grocery price inflation remains high, it is now lower than the level seen last month, having dropped from 16.8% to 16.6% in the 12 weeks to April 16.
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When these figures were put to Minister Donohoe he said that while inflation does appear to be falling, it is not being universally felt By everyone.
He warned that the Government is monitoring things to ensure that no companies are “profiteering”.
“While there are some positive signs in seeing the trends of inflation begin to go in a better direction, that is the cause of recognition but not one of celebration.
“Because for lots the cost of buying their groceries, the cost of filling up a tank of diesel is still too high.
“Through both the energy sector and also monitoring the performance of our economy during the year, the Government will monitor very carefully any risks or any signs that any part of our economy is profiteering from levels of inflation.
“If the cost of making something, if the cost of supplied service, if the cost of keeping somebody's house warm, if the cost of that is beginning to fall, and there are clear signs that it's beginning to for some things in our economy, that has to be passed on to the consumer at the earliest possible opportunity.”
Minister Donohoe said that inflation was running between eight and 10% last year and is expected to fall to 5% in 2023.
When asked if the Government was worried about “greedflation” sneaking in, the Fine Gael TD said that it is something that the Government has to “monitor very, very closely within our economy”.
He continued: “We need to ensure that higher levels of stability do not become a cause of higher levels of inflation within our economy.
He added: “Here in Ireland, because we have a very, very competitive retail sector, they normally play a role in price competition and prices coming down.
“I want that to be the case.”
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