{"id":526759,"date":"2022-05-20T06:53:20","date_gmt":"2022-05-20T04:53:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ftmo.com\/?p=526759"},"modified":"2022-05-20T15:14:08","modified_gmt":"2022-05-20T13:14:08","slug":"economic-calendar-inflation-can-be-tricky","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ftmo.com\/en\/economic-calendar-inflation-can-be-tricky\/","title":{"rendered":"Economic calendar – inflation can be tricky"},"content":{"rendered":"
In the second part of our series on important dates in the economic calendar and their impact on forex trading, we will be talking about inflation. Inflation is a hot topic today, and traders should know what to watch out for when a country announces its inflation data.<\/em><\/p>\n By inflation, we mean a rise in the price level and a decrease in the purchasing power (or real value) of a given currency which consumers use to buy goods and services. The term consumer price index (CPI), the increase in which is a measure of inflation, is usually used in connection with inflation. The annual inflation rate in a given month is thus expressed as the increase in the CPI over the same month of the previous year.<\/p>\n The CPI is calculated as the average of the price changes of individual items in the consumer basket. The composition of the consumer basket is predetermined and individual items have different weights, which may change at certain intervals. Food, alcohol, housing, energy, etc. are represented. Each country also has different weights for the different categories that make up the consumption basket, from which inflation is calculated.<\/p>\n Inflation or CPI is a very important economic indicator because the purchasing power and price growth of goods and services can tell traders and investors a lot about how a country’s monetary policy will evolve. Higher inflation, which many economies are also facing in mid-2022, is leading central banks to raise interest rates. On one hand, this has an impact on economic activity, which is dampened at higher interest rates (more expensive credit, less money available for companies), but on the other hand, higher rates make the currency more attractive to investors who buy it. Higher inflation and the subsequent rise in interest rates then lead to a strengthening of the currency.<\/p>\n