Category Archives: Inflation

Sunak, Hunt and homebuyers brace for an economic Big Wednesday

Posted on by

The midweek inflation bulletin could be the most significant piece of government data published this year

This Wednesday will mark the longest day of the year and not long after the sun comes up the Office for National Statistics (ONS) will publish its latest cost of living bulletin. To say the data is eagerly awaited is an understatement. There is unlikely to be a more significant piece of official data released in the current parliament.

The reason is simple. Despite raising interest rates 12 times since December 2021 in an attempt to quell upward price pressures, inflation is proving harder to shift than the Bank of England imagined.

Continue reading...

Tesco boss: food inflation has probably peaked but prices will stay high

Posted on by

Ken Murphy says higher costs of grocery imports because of Brexit are partly to blame for rising prices

The chief executive of Tesco has said food inflation has probably peaked but warns that prices are likely to stay high.

Ken Murphy, the head of the UK’s biggest supermarket chain, said the price of milk, bread, cooking oil and some vegetables such as broccoli had come down this month but inflation continued in other essentials, including rice and potatoes, as aweather issues and locked-in increases in the price of labour and energy continued to bite.

Continue reading...

‘I’m left with nothing’: Nigerians feel brunt of economic shakeup

Posted on by

President Tinubu’s policies please foreign investors, but a devalued currency and soaring petrol prices mean ‘national sacrifice mode’ is widely unpopular

Nigerians are feeling the strain as their new president pushes through a series of unpopular policies that have earned him praise from foreign investors.

Bola Tinubu, who was sworn in on 29 May, has surprised many observers by taking a running start to his tenure of Africa’s most populous country. In little over two weeks he has banished a longstanding petrol subsidy, ejected the country’s central bank governor and ended restrictions on the rate of the naira, Nigeria’s currency.

Continue reading...

Beyoncé concert in Stockholm blamed for unexpectedly high Swedish inflation

Posted on by

Start of superstar’s world tour ‘seems to have coloured inflation’, says economist, after tens of thousands of fans flocked to the capital for concerts

Swedish inflation fell below 10% in May, official statistics showed, but was still higher than expected with some analysts suggesting superstar Beyoncé had tipped the scales.

Consumer prices rose by 9.7% in May year-on-year, down from 10.5% in April, the first time inflation has come in under 10% in over six months.

Continue reading...

UK wage growth jumps, making interest rate rise more likely

Posted on by

Unemployment rate unexpectedly falls to 3.8% in three months to April, in sign of strength for jobs market

UK wages grew at a faster than expected pace in April, reinforcing expectations the Bank of England will raise interest rates next week.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics show growth in average regular pay, excluding bonuses, strengthened to 7.2% in the three months to April – the highest level on record, excluding the Covid pandemic.

Continue reading...

Economic growth to pick up but risks to recovery ‘elevated’, say UK forecasts

Posted on by

Households and firms can expect more financial pain despite Britain dodging technical recession, says KPMG

Britain will be left with deep scars from the pandemic despite narrowly escaping a second recession within three years and growing signs of an economic pick up, according to new forecasts.

A new report by the accountancy firm KPMG has found that the economy has enjoyed a better start to the year than it had thought, and is now expected to grow by 0.3% this year, compared with its previous prediction of an uplift of just 0.1%.

Continue reading...

Economists split over prospects of another rate rise ahead of RBA meeting

Posted on by

Despite 11 hikes in the cash rate since last May, some forecasters think the central bank could still raise borrowing costs again

It’s Reserve Bank roulette time for another month with borrowers and pundits bracing for the potential of another rate rise surprise.

Since May last year, the central bank has lifted interest rates on the first Tuesday of each month, with only the January holiday break and a short-lived pause in April breaking the metronomic rise in mortgage pain.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Rise in UK breweries going bust amid thirst for cheaper craft beers

Posted on by

45 breweries, mostly smaller makers, enter insolvency in last 12 months, up from 15 the previous year

The number of UK breweries going out of business has tripled in the past year, with smaller craft beer manufacturers most at risk as consumers opt for cheaper options during the cost of living crisis, according to research.

In total, 45 breweries entered insolvency in the 12 months ending 31 March, compared with 15 in the previous year, according to the most recent official Insolvency Service statistics analysed by Mazars, an audit, tax and advisory firm.

Continue reading...

Why it’s not quite back to the 70s with talk of food price controls

Posted on by

Statutory caps were brought in under Heath, now the government wants a voluntary store scheme to meet Sunak’s pledge to halve inflation

A cost-of-living crisis. Pressure on the government to step in to help hard-pressed consumers. Calls for supermarkets to cut prices on staple food items. Substitute Rishi Sunak for Ted Heath, step into a time capsule and journey back to Britain in 1972.

Let’s be clear: ministers are not considering imposing the sort of statutory price controls on a loaf of bread, a pint of milk or a bar of soap that were put in place half a century ago. Not now and not ever, according to Whitehall sources. But it has emerged that Sunak and his team are certainly not averse to the big supermarkets coming up with their own voluntary agreement to reduce the cost of the weekly shop.

Continue reading...

UK food inflation falls in May, raising hopes prices may have peaked

Posted on by

British Retail Consortium says rate fell from 15.7% to 15.4% even as rise in overall shop prices hits fresh high

Food inflation in the UK fell in May, lifting hopes that the rapid increase in grocery prices may have reached its peak after keeping the broader consumer prices index painfully high so far this year.

After more than a year of sharp increases in the price of food, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) said annual food inflation eased this month from 15.7% to 15.4%, even as the overall rise in shop prices hits a fresh high.

Continue reading...

‘Shops will close’: soaring cost of potatoes batters British chippies

Posted on by

The once humble, low-cost staple more than doubles in price, putting many fish and chip shops at risk

Whether it’s fried, baked or mashed, potatoes have traditionally been a low-cost staple food in the UK – but not any more.

A surge in costs is clobbering high street chippies, while in the supermarket, oven chips and the once humble baking potato are casualties of soaring grocery prices.

Continue reading...

Rishi Sunak warned over possible UK recession in 2024

Posted on by

High inflation likely to push interest rates above 5% and force up mortgage and loan payments just ahead of election

Rishi Sunak has been warned the UK economy could be in recession next year as stubbornly high inflation pushes interest rates to more than 5% before the next general election.

Setting the stage for a further rise in borrowing costs on mortgages and loans for millions of households, economists predicted the Bank of England could be forced to drive Britain’s economy into a recession to tame inflation.

Continue reading...

UK homeowners and first-time buyers warned to brace for 5%-plus mortgage rates

Posted on by

Lenders forced to raise fixed-term deals after latest inflation figure pushed swap rates upwards

Households looking for a new mortgage deal have been warned to expect 5%-plus fixed-rate deals in the coming weeks, after Wednesday’s inflation figures sent the money markets back into turmoil.

Nick Mendes, the mortgage technical manager at the broker John Charcol, said on Thursday that he doubts that there will be any two-year fixed-rate mortgages and probably few five-year deals priced at less than 5% in the coming weeks, as lenders are forced to reprice their mortgages upwards.

Continue reading...

Australia should increase competition to fight ‘excessive pricing’ by supermarkets, Rod Sims says

Posted on by

Former regulator head’s comments follow Guardian Australia analysis which shows Coles and Woolworths increased profit margins during cost-of-living crisis

The former competition watchdog head Rod Sims says Australia’s big supermarkets have likely used their market power to increase prices higher than necessary during a cost-of-living crisis and that the government should consider reforming merger laws to limit their dominance.

Sims, who retired as the chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) last year, said Coles and Woolworths have little to worry about when making pricing decisions because they control two-thirds of the market.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

No 10 food summit ‘no more than a PR stunt’ and failed to tackle key issues

Posted on by

Rishi Sunak’s Farm to Fork meeting, the first of its kind, failed to address solutions to inflation, soaring costs and food security, say attenders

Rishi Sunak’s Downing Street food summit has been described as “empty" by food and farming industry representatives, who rounded on the prime minister for failing to discuss soaring inflation or set out measures to safeguard British food production.

The Farm to Fork summit, the first meeting of its kind, brought together farmers, food producers and some of Britain’s largest supermarkets.

Continue reading...

Sainsbury’s and Unilever deny claims of profiteering in cost of living crisis

Posted on by

Supermarket chain and consumer goods company insist they are protecting shoppers from inflation surge

Sainsbury’s and the Marmite maker Unilever have both insisted they are protecting shoppers from inflation, amid accusations that some companies are profiteering from the cost of living crisis.

“We are not profiteering in any form,” the chief executive of Unilever, Alan Jope, said as the consumer goods company insisted it was only passing on three-quarters of its increased costs to customers.

Continue reading...

Australia news live: student debt ‘avalanche’ a sign loan system is broken, Faruqi says; drowning death at Victoria beach

Posted on by

Follow live

The environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, is this morning committing to $260m to Australia’s national parks to address problems after “a decade of neglect”.

Plibersek is telling ABC News some parks have become unsafe:

What we’ve seen in our national parks, feral animals, invasive weeds, despite the best efforts of our rangers and staff, they just haven’t been able to keep up with the demand in our parks.

They’ve actually become unsafe. One of the worst examples I heard was broken and missing crocodile signs in Kakadu national park.

Continue reading...

RBA review has ‘opened the door’ to moving away from inflation focus, panellist says

Posted on by

Renee Fry-McKibbin says panel considered ‘a lot of alternative frameworks’ but decision on shift would fall to future reviews

The review of the Reserve Bank of Australia has “opened the door” for a potential shift away from targeting inflation using interest rates, one of the review panellists says.

Renee Fry-McKibbin told an event on Monday that the panellists had examined “a lot of alternative frameworks” but it would fall to future reviews to discuss ditching the bank’s current goal of aiming to keep inflation between 2% and 3%.

Continue reading...

Bank of England predicted to raise interest rates one more time in May

Posted on by

Increase to 4.5% will be last rise in current cycle, former rate-setter Michael Saunders predicts

The Bank of England is likely to increase interest rates one more time in May, to 4.5%, before inflation falls “sharply” over the rest of the year, a former rate-setter has predicted.

Michael Saunders, who was a member of the monetary policy committee until August, said the UK was nearly at a “turning point” for interest rates, which have risen sharply over the past year as policymakers tried to curb a surge in prices caused by an increase in energy costs.

Continue reading...

Australia news live: seizure of $270m worth of heroin is Queensland’s biggest; RBA interest rates decision due

Posted on by

Australians will find out at 2.30pm AEST whether the Reserve Bank will pause its interest rates hikes after 10 consecutive rises. Follow the day’s news live

Australia’s new high commissioner to the UK, Stephen Smith, says becoming a republic is “inevitable” even if Australians are proud to have the British monarch as their head of state.

In his first interview since taking up the post, Smith told the Times newspaper that most British people would be “indifferent” to Australia getting rid of the monarchy and it would not damage the countries’ relationship.

There is a lot of affection and respect for the monarchy in Australia.

That affection and respect hasn’t gone away because of Australia contemplating from time to time what it should do about its constitutional arrangements.

My personal view is it’s inevitable. But how that’s progressed is entirely a matter for the Australian government of the day.

Our public-sector workers do a great job serving their fellow Victorians and we’re proud to support them. In addition to wage increases, workers will be able to obtain a sign-on bonus while productivity improvements will bring the potential for further advancement of conditions.

The policy provides fair outcomes for employees while being responsible as we deal with the types of budget challenges faced by families, businesses and governments across the world.

Continue reading...