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Editorial: Lower-income, higher-inflation challenge
['Times Of Malta', 'Graph', 'Id', 'Https', 'Timesofmalta.Com Author', 'Type', 'Newsmediaorganization', 'Description', "Malta'S Oldest", 'Most Trusted News Organisation']
Times Of Malta
The latest National Statistics Office (NSO) data for inflation in August confirm that inflation levels are affecting low-income families and high-income families differently.
Food prices account for 21.49% of the Retail Price Index, with 15.6% allocated to food and 5.89% to restaurants and takeaways.
Low-income households have less room to better cope with increases in their cost of living through savings.
This means that low-income families have a lower capacity to absorb sharp, inflation-driven increases in living costs.
An increase in interest rates, geopolitical uncertainty and supply chain disruptions have significantly altered this scenario, with food prices becoming particularly volatile.