February Inflation Drop Emphasises ‘Urgent Need’ to Cut Interest Rates
20 March 2024
SUGGESTED
Monetary Policy
In the Media
Christopher Snowdon quoted in The Guardian
21 March 2024
Housing and Planning
Julian Jessop quoted in The Telegraph
IEA Economics Fellow Julian Jessop has been quoted in The Daily Telegraph responding to news that inflation slowed to a two-and-a-half year low 3.4% in February 2024.
Julian said:
“The latest drop in inflation demonstrates the urgent need for the Bank of England to begin cutting rates.
“The renewed slowdown in the headline rate – to 3.4pc in February – paves the way for annual inflation to fall below the 2pc target in April when the new Ofgem cap on energy bills kicks in.
“But with plenty of evidence that the labour market is cooling, and inflation expectations are dropping, fears of a ‘wage-price spiral’ should fade too.
“By far the bigger risk is that having been too slow to act when inflation was taking off, the Bank of England will now be even slower to respond on the way down.”
Read Julian’s full comment here.
Julian’s comment was also featured in The Daily Express and Pound Sterling Live.
Julian said:
“The latest drop in inflation demonstrates the urgent need for the Bank of England to begin cutting rates.
“The renewed slowdown in the headline rate – to 3.4pc in February – paves the way for annual inflation to fall below the 2pc target in April when the new Ofgem cap on energy bills kicks in.
“But with plenty of evidence that the labour market is cooling, and inflation expectations are dropping, fears of a ‘wage-price spiral’ should fade too.
“By far the bigger risk is that having been too slow to act when inflation was taking off, the Bank of England will now be even slower to respond on the way down.”
Read Julian’s full comment here.
Julian’s comment was also featured in The Daily Express and Pound Sterling Live.
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