What rising inflation means for savings and mortgages
Inflation has unexpectedly surged to its highest level since January last year. This could could delay further cuts to the base rate by the Bank of England, which would be a boost for savers, but not such good news for mortgage borrowers.
The consumer prices index (CPI) rose to 3.5 per cent in April, up from 2.6 per cent in March. Core CPI, which strips out volatile components such as energy and food, climbed to 3.8 per cent from 3.4 per cent, while services inflation rose to 5.4 per cent from 4.7 per cent.
This unexpected acceleration in inflation was caused by bill increases in April. These include council tax rates, water bills and a rise in the energy price cap that determines how much
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
Will HMRC's digital initiatives make customers' lives any easier?
SIR – You report (June 12) that HMRC is to stop sending letters to customers. A year ago I was encouraged by HMRC to start using its app. I duly downloaded it and tried to log in but was refused access, as I needed to provide proof of identity – specifically a passport number or driving licence. I am in my eighties, my driving licence has been revoked owing to my poor eyesight, and my passport has expired as I no longer travel abroad. My only valid means of identification is my bus pass, which is not accepted. The alternative was to contact HMRC by phone. After holding on for an hour, I gave up. Meanwhile, HMRC continues to tax my pension with impunity. George Kelly Buckingham SIR – My mother has dementia. She has none of the documents required to establish her identity and access HMRC's online systems. I have power of attorney, but am not allowed to use these systems on her behalf, so am forced to spend hours on the phone and send letters that never get a reply. HMRC has taken more tax than is due for two years. I am told by the telephone operatives that my mother does not need to file a tax return, but that is the only way to get a rebate. Is HMRC setting out to confuse customers? Gillian Courage Cheltenham, Gloucestershire SIR – HMRC is to stop writing to taxpayers, except when demanding payments. It already refuses to speak to many of us on the phone. It took my wife 10 months to get a reply to a letter she wrote last year; this meant being incorrectly charged interest, which she had to appeal against. A year earlier, only two figures on the assessment form sent to me were recognisable. A five-minute phone call could have resolved the problem, but this was not possible. In both cases, we resorted to sending letters higher up the organisation. This did the trick. E R Dring Tadworth, Surrey SIR – Yesterday morning I received an email from HMRC (having opted out of receiving post) telling me that there was a new message in my account. I duly logged in. The message informed me that I would receive a statement – in four days' time. What was the point of this? Clare Morgan Alderley Edge, Cheshire SIR – Following the news that a phishing scam led to the loss of £49 million, a spokesman for HMRC blithely declared: 'Our customers suffered no financial loss.' This reflects the myopic thinking of the Civil Service. Of course customers suffered a loss: the money cannot now be spent on what it was collected for. Des Morgan Swindon, Wiltshire
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Any pride women felt about Rachel Reeves being the first female Chancellor has been flushed down the U-bend of spend, spend, spend
Labour has always had a woman problem and now it has the woman problem to end them all. Quite how Rachel Reeves has risen through their muppet-rich ranks without trace – to be fair, she did lie on her CV – and became Chancellor of the Exchequer is one of the mysteries of the age. Yet here she is, this mistress of mediocrity, wrecking the economy without a care in the world. Armed with only her boxy separates, freshly ironed fringe and a faint grasp of economics, Rachel from Accounts marches ever onwards in her mission to improve life for the 'ordinary working people' in this country. Whomsoever they might be. It is certainly not me. Is it you?
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
New inflation figures 'good news' for markets
David Laut, Chief Investment Officer at Abound Financial says investors should take comfort in the latest CPI inflation figure and look at the bigger economic picture.
