High street prices fall

Wednesday, 03 December 2008 02:00

Shop price inflation has dropped again in November as costs fall and retailers stage sales events to tempt shoppers.

Overall shop price inflation measured by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) fell from three per cent in October to 2.7 per cent in November, with food inflation dropping sharply from 7.5 per cent to 7.1 per cent.

Stephen Robertson, BRC director general, said: "High-profile discounting and falling prices for key commodities have brought overall shop price inflation down even more from its peak in August.

"The rate of food inflation has fallen by nearly a third in just three months. The VAT cut will contribute to reducing inflation further in December but can't make a big difference to consumer spending on its own.

"The Bank of England should have the courage to cut rates by another whole point."

The fall in overall food inflation was driven by a slowing in annual fresh food inflation from 8.5 per cent in October to 7.2 per cent in November.

A sharp fall in the price of oil from its July high helped slow the rate of inflation, the BRC said.

In addition, many retailers have been offering discounts in the run up to Christmas in an effort to attract customers.

Despite the fall in prices, shopper visits remained down in November with the latest monthly Experian retail footfall index recording a decline of 0.9 per cent compared to November 2007.

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