Berlin — Approximately 40% of German companies are already feeling the impact of rising energy prices, and nearly half want to cut back on investment by rising energy costs, a study conducted Monday showed.
German heads of gas and electricity bills for new contracts hit record highs last month, and soaring natural gas and oil prices after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine hit Germany’s annual inflation rate in March for 40 years. It pushed up to the highest price for the first time.
Approximately 46% of companies say they want to cut investment by rising energy prices, and a quarter of German companies are expected to be burdened by price shocks in the second half of the year, according to a study by the Ifo Institute published by the Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper. When.
In a survey of 1,100 companies, including family-owned companies, every 10 companies are considering abandoning energy-intensive companies altogether, and 14% are considering headcount reductions due to rising energy costs. I found out.
Almost 90% of companies said they probably needed to raise prices to counter rising costs, adding that three-quarters plan to increase their investment in energy efficiency.
“We need policies to correct this distortion of competition and prevent energy prices from rising,” said Reiner Kirhidefer, director of the Family Company Foundation, which commissioned the investigation.
Last month, the German ruling coalition announced a bailout of around € 16 billion ($ 17.3 billion) to help consumers cope with rising energy costs and reduce Russia’s dependence on gas after the invasion of Ukraine.
($ 1 = 0.9264 euro)
follow