Price pressures remain in pipeline for consumers June 12, 2011 CONSUMER price inflation is expected to have remained at 4.5 per cent last month, level with April’s two and half year high — with official figures set to confirm the latest rate tomorrow. Stubborn price pressures will put further strain on the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee, despite governor Mervyn King admitting that the [...]
ECONOMISTS’ VIEWS: DID INFLATION STICK LAST MONTH? June 12, 2011 PHILIP RUSH | NOMURA “We forecast CPI inflation at 4.5 per cent year on year, but for RPI inflation to rise to 5.5 per cent. CPI is likely to be softened by payback from April’s surge in transport costs, compounded by lower oil prices. But we expect this to be offset by higher food and [...]
Commodities still driving up food costs June 7, 2011 FOOD prices at UK stores rose again last month, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) revealed today. Food costs were 4.9 per cent higher than in May 2010, up from April’s annualised food inflation rate of 4.7 per cent. Soaring prices of fresh foods were the main driver, with year-by-year inflation jumping to 4.2 per cent, [...]
Eurozone retail sales bounced in April June 7, 2011 Retail sales across the eurozone saw an unexpected bounce in April, despite rising inflation and a European Central Bank interest rate rise. Sales in the 17 countries using the euro rose 0.9 per cent month-on-month in April and 1.1 per cent compared with April 2010, following a decline in March, EU statistics office Eurostat said. [...]
There could be baa-bad news for retailers afoot June 6, 2011 DE-BLEAT-ING sheep numbers across the globe could have traders flocking into short positions on retail stocks later this year. Wool hit a 23-year high last week. Clothing retailers were decrying the increase yesterday, speculating on how long they can absorb the cost. The UK managing director of Hugo Boss Bernd Hake said that they would [...]
Vincent Tchenguiz interview: the Mayfair tycoon fighting to clear his name June 3, 2011 An afternoon with Vincent Tchenguiz, the property tycoon fighting to clear his name of fraud allegations linked to the collapse of Icelandic bank Kaupthing, makes you realise why cases like this take a team of accountants years to unravel. For nearly 90 minutes, I’m bombarded with figures and facts, allegations and claims. At one point [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING May 31, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES UK CONSUMER RECOVERY SET TO BE SLOWEST IN 180 YEARS The UK economy is set to experience the slowest pick-up in consumer spending of any post-recession period since 1830, according to a Financial Times analysis of official forecasts. Families are expected to spend just slightly more by 2015 than they were before the [...]
Inflation goes up in OECD yet slows across Eurozone May 31, 2011 INFLATION has hit a 30-month high across member states of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the group revealed yesterday, despite a slight easing of prices in the Eurozone. Consumer price inflation edged up to 2.9 per cent for the OECD in April, from 2.7 per cent in March, reaching its highest level [...]
CHINESE DROUGHTS FORCE UP FOOD PRICES May 31, 2011 DROUGHTS in China have placed even greater upward pressure on food prices, provoking a dilemma for the Chinese authorities, as they seek to control inflation. Pork prices have jumped in particular, further inflated by strong demand from May’s holidays. Food prices account for about a third of China’s consumer price index. Slower economic growth is [...]
Spanish inflation slowed in May May 31, 2011 Spanish inflation eased slightly in May, according to the harmonised European Union measure, released yesterday. Consumer price inflation (HICP) came in at 3.4 per cent, down from 3.5 per cent the previous month. Meanwhile, Belgian consumer price inflation held steady at 3.4 per cent. “Given further increases in food and core inflation, in combination with [...]