Annual average rate of the HICP change in 26 EU member states: the average of the 19972003 and 20042010 periods, % Source: Eurostat (2012), own elaboration Note: Romania has not been included in for the sake of clarity. In the first reference period, the economy reached the average inflation rate of 53.957% and in the second one the rate was 7.443%. For Bulgaria, the first average is computed for the period 19982003 due to the lack of data for 1997.

Contexts in source publication

Context 1

... most economies, it takes longer to adjust the formation of prices and wages according to the changing conditions on the labour and product markets. Figure 1 indicates a decrease in the average inflation rates measured by the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) between the period 19972003 and the period 20042010, especially in the new member states. There has been an increase in some older member states, 2 such as the United Kingdom (UK), Luxem- bourg, Belgium, Germany, Austria, France and Swe- den. ...

Context 2

... though the SD indicator was already growing in the euro area in the late 1990s, the inflation rates decreased in 1998 and 1999 within more countries that were preparing themselves for euro area membership. On the other hand, the high inflation rates in the Baltic economies, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and the Czech Republic in 2008 in combination with their (2012), own elaboration Note: Romania has not been included in Figure 1 for the sake of clarity. In the first reference period, the economy reached the average inflation rate of 53.957% and in the second one the rate was 7.443%. ...

Context 3

... Bulgaria, the first average is computed for the period 19982003 due to the lack of data for 1997. lower levels in several countries, e.g. the Netherlands, Malta and France in 2007 (see also Figure 1), are mainly responsible for the significantly high SDs across the EU in these years. However, in the period just before the crisis, the Baltic economies mainly achieved high growth rates, thus these economies were later hit harder by the crisis. ...

Context 4

... depend on the initial economic and price level, monetary regime, above-mentioned factors of the CPL and many others. Figure 1 shows that the price channel plays a significant role in the CPL convergence in Baltic economies as well as in some other new member states. Even if there is the possibil- ity to revaluate a central rate to the euro during the ERM II membership (for example, the rate was revaluated twice in Slovakia), after joining the mone- tary union the exchange rate channel of catching up with the CPL is completely excluded and the price channel is limited by the monetary policy of the European Central Bank (ECB). ...

Context 5

... relatively high levels of government debt with the relative lower levels of government deficits have been typical of Italy and Belgium in the longer-term period. However, after the crisis, their deficits still reached higher levels than 3% of the GDP (Italy -3% in 2012). Since 2000, the deficits (especially in Ireland, the UK, Spain and Finland) and debts (especially in Ireland, Portugal and Greece) increased significantly in many of the EU economies. ...

Context 6

... showed a surplus (Sweden and Estonia). In 2011, the situation of deficits further improved with three countries' levels above 9% of the GDP (Spain, Greece and Ireland) and three countries with a government surplus (Hungary, 10 Estonia and Sweden). It is evident that the highest government budget deficits have recently been attained by Ireland (13.9%, 30.8%, 13.4% and 7.6% of the GDP in 2009-2012 annually). This is the result of the Irish banking crisis, which is connected with the global financial and economic crisis and has led to a number of financial institutions requiring government assistance. However, the de- clines in the level of deficit in the most recent years can be ...