The growth of annual inflation in the Eurozone to a record 5%, a jump in energy prices, a new round of pandemics – these and other important issues for the EU were discussed at the first meeting of the Eurogroup finance ministers after the new year. It was decided at the meeting in Brussels to continue budget stimulation of the EU economy and price monitoring in the hope of smoothing inflation in 2022.

Eurogroup president Pascal Donahoe said: “We still expect the current inflationary pressures to start falling this year. We expect this to happen as the supply chain in some sectors of our economy streamlines, and with a reduction in the high savings rate, which also played a role in price pressures last year.”

Eurozone countries expect economic growth to slow this year, from 5.2% to 4.2%. A trend that analysts extrapolate to the global economy as a whole, noting that it has literally “stumbled” over omicron and inflation.