News - World: Chancellor Olaf Scholz has called on Germans to "stick together" amid the rising cost of living in the country, which is becoming a pandemic across Europe. 

In a video podcast, the German leader admitted that rising prices have become a major cause of concern and unbridled inflation is troubling many citizens.

Recent government statistics showed inflation is running close to 8 percent in June compared to a year earlier.

Scholz said, however, in order to weather the country's economic problems, the population needed to stick together.

"We must link arms and stick together to come through this very difficult time safely," he said in his weekly message to the nation.

Recent media reports show Germans are concerned about the decline of their standards of living, worrying that those who have the least means and income would likely suffer the most from the government's failed economic policies.

On Friday, Hamburg Senator for Environment Jens Kerstan said the German city will ration hot water of private homes and limit maximum heating temperature in the event of a sharp gas shortage.

The warning came as Germany braces for possible outages of Russian gas imports.

Berlin staged two of its three-tier emergency gas plan last month after Russia reduced deliveries via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline -- a step before the government rations fuel consumption.

Surging global energy prices resulting from the Ukraine conflict have inflicted unprecedented levels of inflation in European countries using the euro.

The annual inflation in the eurozone states reached more than 8.6 percent in June, exceeding the 8.1 percent mark recorded in May, with energy prices increasing by 41.9 percent.

Source: Press TV