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The bosses of Spar, Rewe, Hofer, Lidl, MPreis, Unimarkt, Denns, 1,600 independent retailers and representatives of the trade association call for more fairness in the discussion. “The narrative that food retailers are the big beneficiaries of high inflation is not true.”
“Defamatory and misleading”
With “great amazement and irritation” one perceived the last appearance of the club boss of the Greens (Siegrid Maurer, note) in the ORF press hour, in which the food retail trade was de facto presented as the sole cause of the price increase. “We can no longer tolerate such defamatory and misleading comments,” the letter said. The industry reiterates that a retailer’s profit margin is not the difference between the selling price and the buying price.
Food prices increased by 14.6 percent
According to the HICP calculation, food and non-alcoholic beverages in Austria rose in March by an average of 14.6 percent. Statistics Austria will publish inflation data for April on Wednesday. The opposition and the union have long been demanding the suspension of VAT on staple foods. “Price regulations are the only thing that helps against inflation in the long term and it is high time that this was also implemented in Austria,” said SPÖ economic spokesman Christoph Matznetter on Tuesday, according to a broadcast. Calls for a reduction in VAT are also growing louder among sales representatives.
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