Interest rates and inflation at record lows…

17 April 2015

The UK’s inflation rate remained at a record low of 0% in March, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Cheaper clothing and footwear, offset by a rise in petrol prices, helped to maintain the rate at 0% for a second month, official figures show. The figure was the lowest rate of Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation since estimates of the measure began in the late 1980s and means the cost of living is broadly the same as it was a year earlier.

UK interest rates have also been held at 0.5% for another month by the Bank of England.

The decision by the Monetary Policy Committee comes more than six years after the record low was introduced. David Kern, chief economist at the British Chambers of Commerce, said the decision was the right one, “particularly at a time when inflation is down to zero and likely to fall into negative territory in the next few months”. He added: “While official interest rates are very low, the fall in inflation over the past year has effectively raised interest rates in real terms, for both businesses and consumers.