Fresh food prices saw an increase of 10.5%, the biggest monthly increase since September 2008.
London, Thanasis Gavos
The average monthly increase in the price of products in stores in Britain moved to 5.1% in August, according to the Consortium of British Retail Stores and research company NielsenIQ.
Fresh food prices saw an increase of 10.5%, the biggest monthly increase since September 2008 and the then financial crisis.
This increase overshadowed the decrease of 3.3% in the prices of other consumer products.
The figures follow official announcements of UK inflation rising to 10.1%, a 40-year high, and further increases of 80% in household energy bills since October.
The latest research by the Center for Business and Economic Studies on behalf of supermarket chain Asda shows that one in five UK households are now £60 a week short of the money needed to cover essential expenses such as energy bills, rent, transport and food.
Consumers are increasingly turning to discount stores, preferring cheaper supermarket labels to more well-known and more expensive brands, and cutting unnecessary expenses such as subscriptions and gambling. Also, according to research on behalf of Barclaycard, they are trying to limit car travel to save on fuel costs.
Credit card spending rose 13% in July, according to the Bank of England, the biggest one-month increase in 17 years. In total, it is estimated that the British will borrow 100 billion pounds from their credit cards to cope with the energy precision, of course being asked to pay back how much with interest.
The situation is set to become even more pressing for UK consumers, as well ahead of the Bank of England’s forecast of 13% inflation by the end of the year, investment bank Goldman Sachs called for a peak in the consumer price index in 22.4% if gas prices do not fall.
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