UK inflation up to 4.4% in July

steadysaver

UK inflation has risen to 4.4%

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7555788.stm

More worrying is the rate of RPI has risen to 5%. I am hoping this cools off come march as my student loan interest rate will increase further. People coming out of Uni now will be left with a small mortgage before they even start life.

mitchaa

I actually thought it was going to drop a little so was surprised that it has risen so sharply.

Petrol and diesel are coming down in price, my local fuel stations had petrol at 118.9ppl a few weeks ago, this morning it was at 108.9ppl so a 10p decrease in 3wks or so.

I suppose this is offset by the increases in gas/electric and now what looks to be water rises.

dudleyboy

I'm due to (finally!) finish paying mine off next year. The increase from 2.4% to 4.8% was quite a surprise but caused no hardship. If inflation continues as it is I'd dread to think what it could go up to... especially for those who've just/recently graduated in to the start of a recession, with high levels of personal debt and the prospect of difficulties in finding employment.

Even if they manage to defer repayments for several years before earning above the threshold, they'll still be charged compound interest each and every month.

savemoney

You can thank things beyond our control, food, fuel etc

steadysaver

I actually thought it was going to drop a little so was surprised that it has risen so sharply.

Petrol and diesel are coming down in price, my local fuel stations had petrol at 118.9ppl a few weeks ago, this morning it was at 108.9ppl so a 10p decrease in 3wks or so.

I suppose this is offset by the increases in gas/electric and now what looks to be water rises.

I was expecting a small rise. Maybe to 4.0%. I was thinking along the same line as you though that both petrol and food prices have cooled in the last month. However as you rightly suggest this will have been off-set by nice hikes in home energy costs.

I'm due to (finally!) finish paying mine off next year. The increase from 2.4% to 4.8% was quite a surprise but caused no hardship. If inflation continues as it is I'd dread to think what it could go up to... especially for those who've just/recently graduated in to the start of a recession, with high levels of personal debt and the prospect of difficulties in finding employment.

Even if they manage to defer repayments for several years before earning above the threshold, they'll still be charged compound interest each and every month

I have only started paying mine back in the last year or so. Graduated 2006. When the rate increased to 4.8% I was being charged more in Interest than I was paying back. Tho I guess those that never earn over the threshold dont have to worry. Neither do I really. I think well, if I hadnt gone to Uni I wouldn't maybe be earning this kind of money. But it would be nice not to see an extra £100 or so dissapear from the wage each month. Its £100 less for a house deposit.

Milarky

It's also 'letter to the chancellor' time - - 3 months since the last letter whilst inflation sits above 3%...

[Sorry, that's 'August', not July! I somehow added an extra month: CPI April 3.0 ['not above' +1%], May 3.3 [first letter to AD] June 3.8... July 4.4%...August-??[second letter to?] ]

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - UK annual inflation rose to more than twice the Bank of England's official target during July, driven by the soaring cost of food, petrol and utility bills, official figures showed.
The Office for National Statistics said the annual CPI inflation rate rose by 4.4 percent last month, up on the 3.8 percent seen in June. The figure is the highest rise since official CPI data began being collated in 1997, but the ONS said based on an historical RPI data series this is the largest increase since April 1992 when it was 4.7 percent.

http://www.fxstreet.com/news/forex-news/article.aspx?StoryId=3f34ff7c-e60e-4369-938d-f6f0c80511b4

See the chart!

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?ID=19

tr3mor

savemoney wrote: »

You can thank things beyond our control, food, fuel etc

If the pound was stronger then food and fuel would be cheaper.

How do we make the pound stronger? Raise interest rates!!

:money:

napoleon

more like 44%. Who are they trying to kid

kingkano

Milarky wrote: »

It's also 'letter to the chancellor' time - - 3 months since the last letter whilst inflation sits above 3%...

I could be mistaken, but I think Gordo excused him from writing another letter until september as inflation was expected to stay above their remit?

moanymoany

It will be difficult to justify keeping interest rates as they are.

Inflation always seems to me like wind chill factor. They say the temperature today will be 5 degrees, but the wind chill factor will make it feel more like 0!

The inflation rate is 4.4% but it feels much higher to me. Perhaps it is the cold chill of recession blowing on us?

dudleyboy

steadysaver wrote: »

I have only started paying mine back in the last year or so. Graduated 2006. When the rate increased to 4.8% I was being charged more in Interest than I was paying back. Tho I guess those that never earn over the threshold dont have to worry. Neither do I really. I think well, if I hadnt gone to Uni I wouldn't maybe be earning this kind of money. But it would be nice not to see an extra £100 or so dissapear from the wage each month. Its £100 less for a house deposit.

Fortunately I went to university in the very last year before the abolition of student grants so my student loan was a lot lower at the end than it would've been had I gone off to study 12 months later.

Of course, university was great and no student should regret going even if it does mean losing £100 from your salary each month (for the rest of your life?) because, as you say, your potential earnings over your lifetime are likely to be greater as a result.

But should you ever tire of repaying it and wish your student loan wasn't quite as large as it is, just remember come voting time that it was our current Prime Minister who decided to get rid of the grants and force everyone into more debt.

Actually, for all his prudence, he seems to have developed quite a reputation for that.