LONDON: Britain’s inflation rate has held at its record low of zero, giving disposable incomes a boost and leaving the country on the brink of a period of falling prices.
The Office for National Statistics said inflation, as measured by the consumer price index, held at zero in March, unchanged from February, which was the lowest since comparable records began in 1989. Estimates from the ONS suggest it was the lowest reading since 1960.
Statisticians said that if the change in March was calculated to two decimal places, then prices were 0.01% lower than a year before. This would be the first fall on record in consumer price inflation.
The news was welcomed by the chancellor, George Osborne, as the Conservatives seek to flag up their economic record and play down Labour talk of a “cost of living crisis”. But critics of the coalition’s economic policy were quick to argue low inflation was a sign of weakness.
