Purchasing power concerns in Chamber after high inflation | Inland

The purchasing power charts were certainly not flourishing on Budget Day: more than a minimal plus of 0.1 or 0.2 percent was not possible. And at that time, a considerably lower inflation increase was expected than the 5.6 percent for November that the Central Bureau of Statistics announced on Tuesday.

Inflation is ‘through the roof’, observes PVV MP De Jong, who states that the minimal purchasing power plus of Prinsjesdag has thus ‘evaporated a hundred times’: “It was already nothing, but millions of people are now coming down hard.”

“You see that people are falling through their hooves,” says PvdA member Nijboer. “They’re just going to go backwards next year.” VVD MP Tielen is also ‘certainly concerned’ about the ‘almost unprecedented’ inflation. This also applies to SP MP Van Kent, who mentions ‘hugely high inflation figures’. “What is the State Secretary going to do to correct those figures?” asks GL’er Maatoug. MP Omtzigt argues for a rapid increase in the minimum wage, a subject that the forming parties are currently chewing on.

‘Purchasing power recovery plan’

PVV’er De Jong wants the outgoing cabinet to quickly come up with a ‘purchasing power recovery plan’ and will also submit it to the VVD. Tielen is in favor of it: “I recognize that and I agree with him. I am willing to see together where there is room for it.” But she also has a few tricks up her sleeve, because putting together such a package quickly is ‘a bit complicated’ and it also costs a lot of money.

This makes Nijboer skeptical, he doubts whether a purchasing power plan will actually come soon: “I fear that it is more the attitude of the VVD in debates than the result.”

Outgoing State Secretary Wiersma (Social Affairs) will respond to the House’s questions on Thursday. He will already send a calculation exercise on Tuesday about what higher inflation would do to the purchasing power tags. They do indeed shoot into the red, but the figures are accompanied by the necessary ifs and buts. For example, the billion-dollar intervention that the cabinet has made on the energy bill has not yet been included. The Central Planning Bureau will not come up with fresh purchasing power charts again until March 2022.

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