Future Retirement Success
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Investing
  • Stocks
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Investing
  • Stocks

Future Retirement Success

Business

Shop Price Inflation Hits Two-Year Low, Fuelling Expectations of Interest Rate Cut

by April 2, 2024
April 2, 2024
Shop Price Inflation Hits Two-Year Low, Fuelling Expectations of Interest Rate Cut

Shop price inflation has plummeted to its lowest level in over two years, signalling a potential path for the Bank of England to slash interest rates in the coming months, recent reports reveal.

According to data from the British Retail Consortium and NielsenIQ, the annual rate of price growth in stores decelerated to 1.3% last month, a significant drop from February’s 2.5%. This marks the slowest pace of increase since December 2021. Additionally, on a monthly basis, shop prices experienced a decline of 0.4%.

Food prices, which had maintained double-digit inflation for a year, saw a notable reduction to 3.7% from 5%, marking the lowest rate since April 2022. On a monthly scale, food prices even contracted by 0.3%.

Helen Dickinson, Chief Executive of the British Retail Consortium, highlighted the intense competition among retailers, resulting in a downward pressure on prices for consumers. Despite higher global cocoa and sugar prices affecting Easter treats, retailers offered attractive deals on popular chocolates, contributing to price declines compared to the previous month.

These figures suggest a further decline in official headline inflation estimates, raising expectations of an imminent interest rate cut by the Bank of England, potentially for the first time since March 2020. Market forecasts anticipate multiple rate reductions this year from the current 16-year high of 5.25%, with expectations of action starting at either the June or August meetings of the ratesetting monetary policy committee.

Analysts foresee headline inflation returning to the official 2% target this spring, aided in part by the introduction of a lower energy price cap this month, with expectations that it will remain stable in the foreseeable future. Coupled with sluggish economic growth, this scenario would intensify pressure on the Bank of England to adopt looser monetary policy.

The minutes from the MPC’s recent meeting in March indicated a growing inclination towards a rate cut, with the committee acknowledging the potential for policy to remain restrictive even with a reduction in the bank rate. This suggests the MPC’s confidence in maintaining a tight policy stance while addressing persistent inflation concerns.

Non-food inflation also witnessed a significant drop to 0.2% annually in March, down from 1.3% in February. Mike Watkins, Head of Retail and Business Insight at NielsenIQ, attributed this slowdown in inflation to a substantial fall in food prices, driven by intensified competition among supermarkets aiming to boost footfall.

Read more:
Shop Price Inflation Hits Two-Year Low, Fuelling Expectations of Interest Rate Cut

0
FacebookTwitterGoogle +Pinterest
previous post
Interpath Advisory Faces Losses as Middleton Family Business Collapses
next post
10 UX UI Design Stats and Trends that Will Dominate 2024

You may also like

Rachel Reeves to lead Davos 2025 delegation in...

January 8, 2025

Six Restaurants A Day Declared Insolvent – But...

August 4, 2023

Sunak scraps Truss’s Energy Supply Taskforce after just...

December 19, 2022

Robok secures £1m in UKRI funding to revolutionise...

January 8, 2025

Leave a Lasting Impression on all Your Clients...

December 15, 2023

We didn’t start the fire (but goodness, we...

January 1, 2025

Fraud on the rise as cost of living...

August 5, 2022

Marketing and Creativity Tools for Freelance Writers

January 8, 2025

Canary Wharf joins forces with the Felix Project...

May 19, 2023

Royal Mail faces £100m hit from strikes

August 25, 2022

    Get free access to all of the retirement secrets and income strategies from our experts! or Join The Exclusive Subscription Today And Get the Premium Articles Acess for Free

    By opting in you agree to receive emails from us and our affiliates. Your information is secure and your privacy is protected.

    Recent Posts

    • Bank of England expected to cut interest rates to 4% amid weakening UK economy

      August 7, 2025
    • OpenAI in talks over $500bn share sale, potentially surpassing SpaceX in value

      August 7, 2025
    • UK construction activity slumps to lowest level since Covid amid housing slowdown

      August 7, 2025
    • Getting to Know You: Stuart Davis, CEO & co-founder, Dubs Universe

      August 7, 2025
    • TSB brand under threat as £2.65bn sale to Santander approved by Sabadell shareholders

      August 7, 2025
    • Junk food banned from SNAP benefits in 6 more states, a win for MAHA advocates

      August 7, 2025

    Categories

    • Business (8,696)
    • Investing (2,179)
    • Politics (16,329)
    • Stocks (3,228)
    • About us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms & Conditions

    Disclaimer: futureretirementsuccess.com, its managers, its employees, and assigns (collectively “The Company”) do not make any guarantee or warranty about what is advertised above. Information provided by this website is for research purposes only and should not be considered as personalized financial advice. The Company is not affiliated with, nor does it receive compensation from, any specific security. The Company is not registered or licensed by any governing body in any jurisdiction to give investing advice or provide investment recommendation. Any investments recommended here should be taken into consideration only after consulting with your investment advisor and after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company.

    Copyright © 2025 futureretirementsuccess.com | All Rights Reserved