BERLIN—German inflation accelerated at a record pace in September, data showed on Thursday, highlighting growing price pressures as Europe’s largest economy recovers from the pandemic and its companies grapple with supply shortages. Consumer prices, harmonised to make them comparable with inflation data from other European Union countries, rose by 4.1 percent year-on-year compared with 3.4 percent in August, the Federal Statistics Office said. That was the highest rate recorded since January 1997, when the EU-harmonised series began. Christian Lindner, leader of the business-friendly Free Democrats (FDP) and a candidate to become the next finance minister in a possible three-way coalition with the Social Democrats (SPD) and the Greens, took to Twitter to call for a return to a more conservative fiscal policy. He said the high inflation rate was another reminder that policymakers “should focus on reducing the burden for the middle class and returning to solid public finances”. Under …