US Federal Reserve presses on with interest rate hike amid banking chaos March 22, 2023 The US Federal Reserve today looked past the ongoing wobbles in the global banking system and hiked interest rates for the ninth time in a row, extending its aggressive fight against inflation. Chair Jerome Powell and the rest of the federal open market committee (FOMC) today bumped the world’s most important interest rate 25 basis [...]
UK inflation shock was bad for the Bank of England – and disastrous for families March 22, 2023 These were not good inflation numbers for the Bank of England. They were even worse for families. Nearly everyone has been taken aback by the Office for National Statistics calculating the annual rate of headline inflation (the consumer price index) snapped a three month falling streak to climb to 10.4 per cent last month. That [...]
The imperfect tonic: Fever-Tree to raise prices amid soaring cost inflation March 22, 2023 Up market tonic maker Fever-Tree has revealed plans to hike its prices, as it continues to navigate a surge in production costs. The company said made a loss in earnings for the year with revenues down 0.2 per cent to £116.2m from £118.3m the prior year. The London-listed adult drinks company said it felt the financial [...]
UK inflation leaps to 10.4 per cent smashing Bank of England and City forecasts March 22, 2023 UK inflation has surpassed forecasts and stayed in the double digits, in a sign the Bank of England will need to keep hiking interest rates to tame prices, official figures out today reveal. The rate of price increases jumped to 10.4 per cent in February, up from 10.1 per cent in January, according to the [...]
Milk, meat and fruit worst affected as supermarket groceries DOUBLED in cost over last year, Which? says March 22, 2023 The cost of some everyday groceries has more than doubled over the last year, consumer brand Which? has found. The company analysed inflation on more than 25,000 food and drink products at eight major supermarkets – Aldi, Asda, Lidl, Morrisons, Ocado, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose. Which? looked at the average price of the products in the three [...]
Morrisons slashes prices AGAIN as supermarket attempts to woo Aldi and Lidl shoppers back to its aisles March 20, 2023 Morrisons is slashing prices for the third time in three months as it attempts to drag shoppers back from value retailers including Aldi and Lidl. The supermarket said it was cutting the prices of 460 items such as beef mince, cleaning products and fruit, in a move that followed on from a round of price [...]
Deliveroo shares slide as £1.9bn reported revenue fails to bolster market confidence in food delivery favourite March 16, 2023 Deliveroo shares have continued to pedal downwards this morning as investors struggle to regain confidence in the brand following its decision to slash some 350 job roles and disastrous IPO listing. It comes as the food delivery group, which has seen its share price fall consecutively over the past 12 months due to tough market [...]
US inflation tumbles to lowest level since September 2021 but price pressures complicate Fed rate decision March 14, 2023 US inflation has dropped to the lowest level since September 2021, but underlying price pressures are still sticking around, complicating the Federal Reserve’s rate decision next week, official figures out today show. The rate of price growth in the world’s largest economy trimmed to six per cent over the year to February, down from 6.4 [...]
Alcopops out, frozen berries in: How Brits’ shopping habits are changing the inflation basket March 13, 2023 Brits are swapping alcopops for frozen fruit as the nation looks to favour more healthy and environmental options in 2023, statistics from the ONS’ inflation basket can reveal. The tool which measures consumer spending patterns has also shown that non-chart CDs, and digital compact cameras have disappeared from UK shopping lists in the past year, [...]
The Notebook: Victoria Scholar on why it’s not all doom and gloom for the economy March 8, 2023 The Notebook is where interesting people say interesting things. Today, it’s Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor, on why it’s not the time to be gloomy about the UK’s prospects, the battle for your coffee pound and a new podcast. You wouldn’t be blamed for thinking that the UK economy is in a [...]