Hamilton Crawford - British Inflation Slows

SHANGHAI, March 26, 2018 (Newswire.com) - British inflation slowed by more than was anticipated last month as the effects of 2016’s Brexit referendum eased and alleviated some of the pressure on domestic consumer budgets. Hamilton Crawford analysts say that this has not helped to reduce chances of the interest rate hike by the Bank of England widely expected in May this year.

Hamilton Crawford analysts say that official data revealed that consumer prices increased by a yearly 2.7 percent in February, the slowest increase since July of 2017 and lower than the 3.0 percent increase seen the month before.

Hamilton Crawford analysts believe the weakening of inflation is not likely to alter the Bank of England’s stance on interest rates. Last month, the central bank stated that interest rates will likely need to be increased sooner and by more than it originally anticipated.

The rate of inflation in the UK currently stands at double that of France and Germany and is also higher than that of the US where the Federal Reserve will likely continue with its run of interest rate increases this week.

An economist at Hamilton Crawford stated that the slowing of inflation did not necessarily provide the BoE with a solid reason to refrain from hiking interest rates. The British economic recovery is now nine years old, but interest rates are the same as they were in 2009.

The pound fell after the release of the official data but still retained much of its 1 percent increase from earlier this week when the UK secured a deal that will give Britain a 21 month transition period after it leaves the EU in March next year.

Contact Info
Elite News-CN, Jingmi Rd, Chaoyang Qu, Beijing Shi, China
[email protected]

Source: Hamilton Crawford