CPI rate falls to record low
By Wesleyan
Posted 25 March 2015
Households may see prices fall for the first time in 50 years shortly, after inflation dropped to zero.
According to the Consumer Prices Index (CPI), inflation was at 0.3 per cent in January but took a sharper than expected fall to zero in February.
The figures, released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), reveal a new low for CPI since comparable records began in 1989.
Experts predict CPI will fall even further in the coming months, into negative figures.
The ONS said it has created an experimental model which suggests that the last time CPI was negative was in March 1960, when it reached minus 0.6 per cent.
The fall in CPI could mean the Bank of England once again delays its increase in the base interest rate, which currently is at an all-time low of 0.5 per cent.
Copyright Press Association 2015