President Iohannis on inflation and price hikes: Putin is to blame. “We need to be more careful about how we spend”

President Klaus Iohannis said on Thursday that Vladimir Putin was “guilty” of the current economic crisis, which has led to inflation and rising prices around the world after the start of the war in Ukraine.

“Inflation is just a factor and to start with a simple answer, I am confident that the Government has taken and will continue to take the necessary measures,” Klaus Iohannis said on Thursday, when asked about the phenomenon of inflation and the growing price hikes. the population.

He said that inflation, the difficult economic situation, energy prices “did not appear because someone in Romania worked poorly or did not do their job”, but because of the war. “All this has one cause – and that is Putin’s war against Ukraine,” the head of state said.

He added that the issue of inflation is global, citing other countries where inflation is high.

“The government, the parliament, the politicians – in general – are doing their job and in many situations there are certain solutions, but we should not try to blame the government, the parliament or the political class. The culprit is Putin, who started this war against Ukraine,” Klaus Iohannis underlined.

The annual inflation rate rose to 13.76% in April 2022, compared to April 2021, according to data released on Wednesday by the National Institute of Statistics (INS). Non-food goods increased by 16.35%, food by 13.54%, and services by 7.11%.

President Klaus Iohannis also commented on the statements of central bank Governor Mugur Isărescu, who urged Romanians not to panic over price increases and to drink linded tea to calm them down. “Probably there are more lindens in the park (at BNR) and more tea is drunk“, said Iohannis, asked by journalists about Isărescu’s statements.

The head of state also said that “everyone will feel” the increase in prices. “It is obvious we need to be more careful about how we spend,” Iohannis stressed.

The governor of the National Bank of Romnaia, Mugur Isărescu said that, in the context of price increases that “A little bit more calm would’t hurt”.

“Agitation is characteristic of times of crisis. It’s understandable. This is what authorities should tell people: to be calmer. I also understood the message. We’d better drink a linden tea. I drank with Eugen Rădulescu. So that’s good advice. Exaggerations are specific but they don’t do me any good,” Isărescu said.