(CIANEWS) - January prices set a benchmark from which inflation will only fall in 2023. This was stated by Petr Dufek, chief economist at Bank CREDITAS. The acceleration of year-on-year inflation to more than 17% was influenced by the energy saving tariff, which reduced price growth for three months and has now dropped out of the calculation. Patria Finance's chief economist Jan Bureš expects the economy to return to inflation not close to 2%, but rather to the 3-4% range. Raiffeisenbank analyst David Vagenknecht expects subdued household demand and falling prices in the manufacturing sector. In his forecast, inflation will return to a single-digit rate in mid-2023.