The latest inflation data from the ONS says that CPI annual inflation now stands at 4% from 3.7% in December. The government target for CPI is 2%. The main contributory factors were petrol and diesel prices, restaurants and cafes, furniture and furnishings, alcoholic beverages and vehicle purchases. Two important factors that also made an impact were the increase in VAT and the price of crude oil. Downward pressure on the CPI came from recreation and culture, banking services and clothing and footwear. The RPI increased from 4.8% in December to 5.1% in January 2011.
The all items CPI hasn't been higher since November 2008, non-alcoholic beverages, restaurants and hotels and petrol haven't been higher since records began.
Showing posts with label VAT. Show all posts
Showing posts with label VAT. Show all posts
Wednesday, 16 February 2011
Thursday, 4 March 2010
Food Inflation Hits A New Low
Great news for shoopers from the British Retail Consortium's Shop Price Index tells us that inflation has fallen to 1.7% from 2.3% in January and food prices have hit a new low. Food inflation has plummeted from 2.9% to 1.3% the lowest for three years. Non-food inflation was unchanged at 1.9%. As reported on previous occasions the effects of VAT and shopper restraint may still be having an effect but the Director General of the BRC said that food prices should remain stable.
Wednesday, 17 February 2010
Inflation Hits 3.5%
The Governor of the Bank of England had to write to the Prime Minister to explain the fact that CPI inflation hit 3.5% in January. It is the second largest ever increase in the annual rate between 2 months. There was a 1% increase in the annual rate between November and December. CPI records began in 1996. The all items CPI is 112.4 down from 112.6 in December a change of 0.2% and although the index took a downward movement it is the greatest growth ever for those two months.
Both of these record movement can be at least partially explained by the 15% to 17.5% increase in VAT in January which also affected RPI. Another factor was the price of crude oil. The all goods CPI annual rate is 3.9% from 3.2% last month and the all services CPI annual rate is 3% from 2.6% last month.
The all items RPI in January was 217.9 down from 218 in December, the annual rate being 3.7% from 2.4%. The RPIX (excluding mortgage interest payments) was 4.6% from 3.8%. The all goods index was 169.3 from 169.7 or an annual rate of 6.5% from 5.3%. The all services index was 288.6 from 288.2, or an annual rate of 3.1% from 2.8% last month.
The largest upward contribution to the annual rate of CPI was from transport. Within transport the largest contribution came from a 2.2% rise in the price of fuels and lubricants compared with a fall of 3.4% last year. There were also large upward contributions from maintenance and repairs and the purchase of new and second hand cars. These were partially offset by a fall in prices in fares particularly in long-haul routes and sea transport. Another significant upward contribution came from recreation and culture where recording media particularly DVD purchases were significant along with subscriptions to cable and digital television.
Housing was a significant contributor to the increase in the RPI where mortgage interest payments rose this year but fell a year ago. After housing came motoring expenses mainly petrol and oil. Tobacco was also a significant contributor along with food, alcohol and household services, fuel and light and leisure goods.
Both of these record movement can be at least partially explained by the 15% to 17.5% increase in VAT in January which also affected RPI. Another factor was the price of crude oil. The all goods CPI annual rate is 3.9% from 3.2% last month and the all services CPI annual rate is 3% from 2.6% last month.
The all items RPI in January was 217.9 down from 218 in December, the annual rate being 3.7% from 2.4%. The RPIX (excluding mortgage interest payments) was 4.6% from 3.8%. The all goods index was 169.3 from 169.7 or an annual rate of 6.5% from 5.3%. The all services index was 288.6 from 288.2, or an annual rate of 3.1% from 2.8% last month.
The largest upward contribution to the annual rate of CPI was from transport. Within transport the largest contribution came from a 2.2% rise in the price of fuels and lubricants compared with a fall of 3.4% last year. There were also large upward contributions from maintenance and repairs and the purchase of new and second hand cars. These were partially offset by a fall in prices in fares particularly in long-haul routes and sea transport. Another significant upward contribution came from recreation and culture where recording media particularly DVD purchases were significant along with subscriptions to cable and digital television.
Housing was a significant contributor to the increase in the RPI where mortgage interest payments rose this year but fell a year ago. After housing came motoring expenses mainly petrol and oil. Tobacco was also a significant contributor along with food, alcohol and household services, fuel and light and leisure goods.
Thursday, 28 January 2010
Retailers Disappointed By Fall In Sales
The January CBI Distributive Trades Survey says that retailers were disappointed by the slight fall in sales in early January having expected a three month run of growth. The extreme weather conditions may be partly to blame for the sales figures for the usually busy New Year sales. The increase in the VAT rate may also have been an influence. Retailers expect sales in February to be about the same as last year.
Wednesday, 2 December 2009
New Business Demography Figures For 2008
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has begun publishing details of business start-ups, closures and survival rates called 'Business Demography:Enterprise Births and Deaths'. The BERR is discontinuing the series, 'Business Start-ups and Closures: VAT registrations and de-registrations'. The last publication will be the 2008 update after that it will be replaced with the new ONS series. The new business demography statistics are considered more comprehensive. There are methodological differences.
The European Commission brought out a new regulation in February that requires National Statistics Institutes to produce statistics on business births, deaths and survival rates. They will produce statistics using a common methodology and definitions which will ensure greater comparability across the EU. One of the main differences is the inclusion of PAYE registered units, that is, employing businesses which are not VAT registered. It will provide a more comprehensive view of business start-up activity.
The new business demography statistics will show more business births and deaths than the BERR VAT-based statistics. The broad trend of volume and rate of births and deaths are the same but the peaks appear slightly earlier in the BERR series. Both ONS and BERR sets of statistics show differences between volumes and rates, but in both, the highest rates of births and deaths seem to be in London and lowest in Northern Ireland.
The statistics for 2008 published on Monday tell us that there were 270,000 business births in the UK in 2008, a birth rate of 11.6%. In 2007, there were 281,000 births (12.3%). That means there was a decrease of 3.7% in the number of business births. There were 'provisionally' 219,000 business seaths, a rate of 9.4% in 2008 compared with 223,000 deaths in 2007, a rate of 9.8%. There was a 1.8% decrease in the number of business deaths.
Active businesses numbered over 2.3 million in the UK during 2008, down 46,000 on 2007. The highest rate of business births was in business administration and support services with 16.2% followed by professional, scientific and technical services at 14.7% and information and communication at 14.6%. The highest overall number of business births was in professional, scientific and technical with 54,000. The highest death rate was in accomodation and food services at 13.1%, following this came finance and insurance at 11% and business administration and supprt services at 10.8%. Construction had the largest overall number of deaths at 33,000 then profesional, scientific and technical with over 32,000.
The business survival rate is based on a five-year survival rate. In 2008, the 5=year survival rate was 46.6%. Northern Ireland had the largest 5-year survival rate in the UK and London the lowest at 39.4%. Hea;lth had a survival rate of 63% and education 60.3% but hotels and catering were lowest with 34.2%.
Further details on the methodology can be obtained from the ONS website.
The European Commission brought out a new regulation in February that requires National Statistics Institutes to produce statistics on business births, deaths and survival rates. They will produce statistics using a common methodology and definitions which will ensure greater comparability across the EU. One of the main differences is the inclusion of PAYE registered units, that is, employing businesses which are not VAT registered. It will provide a more comprehensive view of business start-up activity.
The new business demography statistics will show more business births and deaths than the BERR VAT-based statistics. The broad trend of volume and rate of births and deaths are the same but the peaks appear slightly earlier in the BERR series. Both ONS and BERR sets of statistics show differences between volumes and rates, but in both, the highest rates of births and deaths seem to be in London and lowest in Northern Ireland.
The statistics for 2008 published on Monday tell us that there were 270,000 business births in the UK in 2008, a birth rate of 11.6%. In 2007, there were 281,000 births (12.3%). That means there was a decrease of 3.7% in the number of business births. There were 'provisionally' 219,000 business seaths, a rate of 9.4% in 2008 compared with 223,000 deaths in 2007, a rate of 9.8%. There was a 1.8% decrease in the number of business deaths.
Active businesses numbered over 2.3 million in the UK during 2008, down 46,000 on 2007. The highest rate of business births was in business administration and support services with 16.2% followed by professional, scientific and technical services at 14.7% and information and communication at 14.6%. The highest overall number of business births was in professional, scientific and technical with 54,000. The highest death rate was in accomodation and food services at 13.1%, following this came finance and insurance at 11% and business administration and supprt services at 10.8%. Construction had the largest overall number of deaths at 33,000 then profesional, scientific and technical with over 32,000.
The business survival rate is based on a five-year survival rate. In 2008, the 5=year survival rate was 46.6%. Northern Ireland had the largest 5-year survival rate in the UK and London the lowest at 39.4%. Hea;lth had a survival rate of 63% and education 60.3% but hotels and catering were lowest with 34.2%.
Further details on the methodology can be obtained from the ONS website.
Thursday, 27 August 2009
Government Receipts Down, Spending On Target
The latest public sector finances statistics from the ONS show that in July the public sector had a current budget deficit of £5.1bn and net borrowing of £8bn. At the end of July net debt was £800.8bn or 56.8% of GDP.
The public sector current deficit is £13bn higher than last year when there was a surplus of £7.8bn and the net borrowing is £13.2bn higher than last year when the public sector was lending net of £5.2bn. Latest figures for net debt without financial sector intervention are for June when net debt was £658.1 or 46.6% of GDP. Whereas last year the public sector made a repayment of £14.5bn the net cash requirement for July this year was £0.2bn an increase of £14.7bn. Comparing the net debt shows that last year the net debt was 43.5% of GDP at £627.2bn.
Government receipts were 15.3% lower than the same month last year and government spending was 7.5% higher. Net investment was £2.9bn compared with £2.6bn last year. The Institute of Fiscal Studies said that receipts of Corporation Tax and VAT collapsed to two-thirds of their July 2008 level more than the Treasury predicted in the Budget over the year. Spending is increasing as predicted. They also add that there are good reasons to expect a better performance in revenues over the next few months. The reversal of the VAT cut scheduled for the end of 2009 is one of them.
The public sector current deficit is £13bn higher than last year when there was a surplus of £7.8bn and the net borrowing is £13.2bn higher than last year when the public sector was lending net of £5.2bn. Latest figures for net debt without financial sector intervention are for June when net debt was £658.1 or 46.6% of GDP. Whereas last year the public sector made a repayment of £14.5bn the net cash requirement for July this year was £0.2bn an increase of £14.7bn. Comparing the net debt shows that last year the net debt was 43.5% of GDP at £627.2bn.
Government receipts were 15.3% lower than the same month last year and government spending was 7.5% higher. Net investment was £2.9bn compared with £2.6bn last year. The Institute of Fiscal Studies said that receipts of Corporation Tax and VAT collapsed to two-thirds of their July 2008 level more than the Treasury predicted in the Budget over the year. Spending is increasing as predicted. They also add that there are good reasons to expect a better performance in revenues over the next few months. The reversal of the VAT cut scheduled for the end of 2009 is one of them.
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