The Chancellor has responded to the ONS inflation statistics for
March 2024.
Chancellor of the Exchequer, said:
“The plan is working: inflation is falling faster than expected,
down from over 11% to 3.2%, the lowest level in nearly two and a
half years, helping people's money go further.
This welcome news comes on top of our cuts to national insurance,
which save the average worker £900 a year, so people should start
to feel the difference as well as see it in their pay cheques.”
Rachel Reeves MP, Labour's Shadow
Chancellor, responding to the latest inflation
figures said:
“Conservatives ministers will be hitting the airwaves today to
tell the British people that they have never had it so good.
However, after fourteen years of economic failure under the
Conservatives working people are worse off.
“Prices are still high in the shops, monthly mortgage
bills are going up and inflation is still higher than the Bank of
England's target. At the same time Rishi Sunak risks crashing the
economy again with his Liz Truss backed £46 billion unfunded tax
plan to abolish national insurance.
“The truth is Rishi Sunak is too weak to fix the economy his
party broke and too out of touch to deliver for working people.
It's time for change. Only Labour has a long-term plan to grow
our economy, cut people's bills and make working people better
off.”
Reacting to today's IMF's growth estimates for the UK Pranesh
Narayanan, research fellow at IPPR, said:
“Today's welcome news shows
inflation is going in the right direction, but we can't be
complacent about the state of the
economy.
“Inflation is coming down, but
unemployment is ticking up. We still have record levels of people
who are too sick to work, a cost-of-living crisis and stagnant
growth.
“It's time for the Bank of England
to cut interest rates and the government to come up with a
serious plan for public spending and investment. The priority
should not be more tax cuts.”
In response to the latest inflation figures published today,
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said:
“Headline inflation may be falling, but sky-high prices are now
baked into the economy and that means the cost of living crisis
continues for workers.
“And we are not 'all in it together'. Big businesses keep
announcing mega profits while every day people still struggle.
“This is why it is vital that Unite continues to focus on
delivering at the negotiating table. Trade union representation
remains the key tool that workers have for protecting their
living standards and over the last two years we have won hundreds
of millions of pounds back into the pockets of Unite members
through collective bargaining."
CPI inflation fell to 3.2 per cent in March – falling below the
US inflation rate (CPI for All Urban Consumers) of 3.5 per cent
for the first time since March 2022 (but still above the Eurozone
rate of 2.4 per cent) – bringing an end to the UK's unwanted
status as an outlier on inflation, the Resolution
Foundation said today (Wednesday) in response to the
latest ONS data.
The latest fall was less than markets expected, but driven by a
welcome fall in food inflation (down to 4 per cent, from 19.1 per
cent last year). Petrol prices were the most signification
upwards pressure on prices.
Encouragingly, both core and services inflation fell in March
(though the latter is 0.2 percentage points above the Bank's
forecast), and a significant fall is due in April as a result of
the energy price cap falling, which should take CPI close to its
two per cent target.
Simon Pittaway, Senior Economist at the Resolution
Foundation, said:
“Many economies have struggled through an inflation-driven cost
of living crisis over the past two years, but the UK has been an
outlier – experiencing a prolonged period double digit price
rises. With UK inflation finally falling below the US, its
unwanted outlier status is over.
“With a further significant drop due next month, inflation should
soon return to target – and the pressure to cut interest rates
will grow.”
