AGL 40.08 Increased By ▲ 0.08 (0.2%)
AIRLINK 131.50 Increased By ▲ 1.97 (1.52%)
BOP 6.88 Increased By ▲ 0.20 (2.99%)
CNERGY 4.53 Decreased By ▼ -0.10 (-2.16%)
DCL 8.82 Decreased By ▼ -0.12 (-1.34%)
DFML 42.10 Increased By ▲ 0.41 (0.98%)
DGKC 83.60 Decreased By ▼ -0.17 (-0.2%)
FCCL 32.94 Increased By ▲ 0.17 (0.52%)
FFBL 77.00 Increased By ▲ 1.53 (2.03%)
FFL 11.90 Increased By ▲ 0.43 (3.75%)
HUBC 109.97 Decreased By ▼ -0.58 (-0.52%)
HUMNL 14.28 Decreased By ▼ -0.28 (-1.92%)
KEL 5.50 Increased By ▲ 0.11 (2.04%)
KOSM 8.24 Decreased By ▼ -0.16 (-1.9%)
MLCF 39.30 Decreased By ▼ -0.49 (-1.23%)
NBP 64.94 Increased By ▲ 4.65 (7.71%)
OGDC 197.99 Decreased By ▼ -1.67 (-0.84%)
PAEL 25.91 Decreased By ▼ -0.74 (-2.78%)
PIBTL 7.71 Increased By ▲ 0.05 (0.65%)
PPL 157.25 Decreased By ▼ -0.67 (-0.42%)
PRL 26.09 Decreased By ▼ -0.64 (-2.39%)
PTC 17.96 Decreased By ▼ -0.50 (-2.71%)
SEARL 81.90 Decreased By ▼ -0.54 (-0.66%)
TELE 8.09 Decreased By ▼ -0.22 (-2.65%)
TOMCL 34.40 Decreased By ▼ -0.11 (-0.32%)
TPLP 8.75 Decreased By ▼ -0.31 (-3.42%)
TREET 16.80 Decreased By ▼ -0.67 (-3.84%)
TRG 59.26 Decreased By ▼ -2.06 (-3.36%)
UNITY 27.70 Increased By ▲ 0.27 (0.98%)
WTL 1.45 Increased By ▲ 0.07 (5.07%)
BR100 10,618 Increased By 211.3 (2.03%)
BR30 31,663 Decreased By -50.1 (-0.16%)
KSE100 99,125 Increased By 1797 (1.85%)
KSE30 30,881 Increased By 689 (2.28%)

LONDON: Britain now has Western Europe’s highest rate of consumer price inflation after it fell by less than expected in March to 10.1% in March from February’s 10.4%, official data showed on Wednesday.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast that the annual CPI rate would drop to 9.8% in March, moving further away from October’s 41-year high of 11.1% but still eating into the spending power of workers whose pay is rising by less.

Despite falling in March, Britain’s inflation rate was the highest in Western Europe and the only country in the region to post a double-digit number for last month.

The Office for National Statistics said the price of food and non-alcoholic drinks rose by 19.1% in annual terms in March - the biggest such rise since August 1977.

Last month the Bank of England said it expected inflation to “fall significantly” in the second quarter.

In February, the BoE had forecast March inflation of 9.2%.

UK unemployment rises as cost-of-living crisis bites

While inflation is likely to drop naturally as the sharp increases in energy prices seen last year fall out of the annual comparison, the BoE is trying to judge how fast it will decline.

Recent indicators have looked mixed on that front, with data on Tuesday showing stronger-than-expected wage growth.

Business surveys however show cooling cost and selling price pressure. Financial markets on Tuesday pointed to a roughly 80% chance that the BoE will raise interest rates next month.

Comments

Comments are closed.