Tuesday, Mar 18, 2008
CPI up RPI static
BBC: UK consumer inflation hits 2.5%
UK consumer inflation reached its highest level in nine months last month, spurred by rising energy bills. The Office for National Statistics said the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) hit 2.5% on an annual basis in February, up from 2.2% in January. A key reason for the rise was the change in the method used to calculate energy bills. Retail Prices Index inflation, which includes mortgage interest payments, remained the same at 4.1% last month.
Posted by jack c @ 09:48 AM (1034 views) Add Comment
11 Comments
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1. hpwatcher said...
So are these people going to put up interest rates, or wreck the pound and go for broke?
Let's have your thoughts guys....
2. House_prices_only_go_up said...
"A key reason for the rise was the change in the method used to calculate energy bills."
Otherwise it would be up above 3%.
3. Dave The Box said...
I want to know how the RPI figure can remain at 4.1% when in most of the recent press announcement, food, fuel, etc etc have been rising by double digits!
4. cornishman said...
" The Bank of England faces a slowing economy as well as high inflation
UK consumer inflation reached its highest level in nine months last month, due to a new method for calculating energy bills. "
Phew, that's all right then. There was me thinking energy bills had actually gone up - but it's OK, it's just a new method of calculating the bill. No need to worry about that then.
Stability - keep interest rates the same, keep the CPI the same regardless of the facts, keep your head in the sand - stability, stability, stability - keep saying it...
5. bystander said...
The BBC are consistently proving themselves to be the mouthpiece of the Brown affair.......someone should put some paint around them and see if a dirty great circle appears on Gordons mug. Impartial journalism, absolutely.............and when are they going to inform the general public that sterling will soon be being turned away in the swap shops of tenerife and the costas this summer, just like the US dullard is in Amsterdam.
6. cyril said...
@hpwatcher - the general thinking seems to be IRs down doesn't it? Devaluation/inflation is the usual way out of this sort of situation, with the CPI & RPI cunningly manipulated so people don't realise what's going on.
7. alan said...
Every time I see a CPI figure reported in the press or an online article, I see the RPI figure alongside it. I guess journalists are aware that readers don't trust CPI. Politicians rarely include a comparison, of course.
As for our future direction....whether we like it or not, we are tied to Wall St and the US problems currently unwinding over the pond. We are in debt for a colossal amount of cash and the BoE will do as it is told by the people who pull strings in this country - like George Bush. IMHO, our fate is not in our own hands.
I'm not feeling very optimistic about where we may be headed. Lower interest rates, lower pound, tighter credit, higher imported inflation hitting around autumn is my guess.
8. titaniccaptain said...
I think your right alan...we are so embedded with the u.s. that we cant steer our own ship. Hpwatcher higher interest rates now?????? dunno jury is out on that one.....personaly would be good if they went up for my savings
9. little professor said...
Hope RPI stays static next month too, or falls - March RPI sets the interest rate for student loans for the next year.
Strange that payments to the government such as student loans are tied to RPI, while payments from the government such as wage settlements are tied to CPI. Wonder why that is???
10. Orwell said...
They would prefer to wreck the pound...
11. Fed Up said...
Orwell beat me to it. They'd rather the pound plummets and we all have hyperinflation than see house prices fall.