Germany’s annual pace of inflation surged to its highest pace since 1981, largely on the back of a nearly 40-percent surge in energy prices. Data released by German statistics office Destatis on April 12 shows that, in March, consumer prices rose 7.3 percent year-over-year and 2.5 percent month-over-month. Noting a range of “current crises,” including the war in Ukraine and the lingering effects of the pandemic, the agency said that supply chain bottlenecks and elevated input costs were continuing to have an impact on inflation. ”In addition to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russian war against Ukraine now also has a marked impact on the rate of price increase in Germany, especially for heating oil, motor fuels, and natural gas as well as some food products,” said Georg Thiel, president of Germany’s Federal Statistical Office, in a statement. Supply chain bottlenecks in the delivery of intermediate goods in Germany’s manufacturing sector …