IEA Economics Fellow Julian Jessop has written in The Daily Express responding to August’s inflation statistics, which revealed a headline rate of 9.9 per cent, down 0.2 per cent from July.

In the article, Julian highlighted the outsized role played by the decline in fuel price on the inflation figures, which are still high despite outperforming expectations of a further increase.

Beyond the headline rate, Julian noted that consumer price inflation is still five times the Bank of England’s two per cent target and that underlying inflation – which excludes food and energy prices – is running at a high six per cent.

In closing, Julian encouraged the Bank to take a bold approach to tackling inflation, commenting that “The MPC therefore needs to be bolder to restore credibility. Raising rates by three-quarters of a percentage point at the rescheduled meeting next week, rather than the expected half point, would only take rates to 2.5 percent, which is still low.”

The full article can be read here.