The current rise in oil prices does not call into question the general trend of a slowdown in inflation, said Saturday the governor of the Bank of France, François Villeroy de Galhau, while saying he was “attentive” to their variation .
“We are obviously attentive” to this theme, underlined Mr. Villeroy de Galhau on France Inter, who put into perspective the general effect on inflation of the increase in fuel prices.
“The variations in oil prices (…) do not call into question, in our eyes, the trend towards underlying disinflation. Our forecast and our commitment, is to bring inflation back to 2% by 2025 “, he said, recalling the objective of the European Central Bank (ECB).
According to forecasts from the Banque de France, after reaching its peak in early 2023, total inflation should continue to decline to settle at 4.5% over one year in France in the fourth quarter of 2023before returning to around 2% in 2025.
No generalized shock
“The price of oil and the price of gasoline at the pump are obviously very sensitive, but that is not total inflation. Gasoline consumption at the pump represents approximately 5% of our total consumption. So it is a small part of total inflation, even if it is what is seen the most,” added the governor of the institution.
“When we compare to the beginning of 2022, with the invasion of Ukraine, at the time we had a generalized shock across all energy, including gas (…) Today, we don’t see that,” he emphasizes. Fuel prices have risen sharply in recent weeks in France, and are now flirting with or exceeding the symbolic bar of two euros per liter.
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