Calviño predicts that inflation will remain high in the summer and begin to moderate in the fall

MADRID, 22 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The First Vice President and Minister of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation, Nadia Calviño, forecasts that inflation will remain high during the summer, but will begin to moderate in the fall.

"The forecast is that this too-high price rise will continue during the summer, but in the autumn the forecast is that prices will begin to moderate," said the first vice president in an interview on TVE's 'La Hora de La 1', collected by Europe Press.

Calviño has defended the actions of the European Central Bank (ECB) and the measures promoted by the Government itself to try to mitigate the impact of rising prices on citizens. In addition, he has highlighted that he is lowering the price of grain in international markets and that of oil, "which will affect prices sooner or later."

Calviño has supported the rejection of the Vice President for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera, to compulsorily cut gas consumption, as proposed by the European Commission in the event that there is a risk of gas shortage or exceptionally high demand.

"We are going to be in solidarity with the rest of Europe, but we must do it with measures that are effective. Solidarity cannot be considered starting from a cut in gas consumption equal for all," the Government's economic minister remarked in the interview.

In this sense, Calviño has argued that Spain has a very different situation from other countries such as Germany or Italy. "We do not depend on Russian gas, we have a third of Europe's regasification capacity and we have a high penetration of renewable energies," he argued.

For this reason, Calviño believes that the way for Spain to show solidarity is by reinforcing the country's contribution in the gas and electricity markets. "We are going to see all the technical ways to be able to increase our contribution to the continent's energy security, but it cannot be by making ourselves more vulnerable," he stressed.