It's The Poor Who Will Pay The Price Of Soaring Inflation

UK inflation is now expected to hit 3 per cent this year, above the Bank of England’s target of 2 per cent, and yet interest rates are still being kept at near zero. It is criminal to ignore such rapidly rising prices that will make older generations suffer while City fat cats get rich on historically low rates.

- Tim Newark

As our economy picks up after lockdown, it’s plain to see that daily costs are rising fast. Due to the Covid-19 disruption of supply lines, raw materials are costing more and that is being fed into prices of everyday goods. On top of that, a shortage of available staff, thanks in part to many workers still being on furlough rather than joining the work force, means wages are rising too. All those costs are now being passed on to the consumer.

“The rate of input cost inflation accelerated for the fifth month running and was the joint fastest on record,” says IHS Markit, a purchasing managers’ news service. At the same time, across the Atlantic, US inflation has surged to 3.9 per cent, according to the Bureau of Economic Affairs, thanks to massive government spending.

ALL this is very worrying news for older generations who live on a fixed income and hope to eke out their savings over their later years. Inflation is a destroyer of money accumulated over a lifetime and especially hits the cautious saver who does not want to risk their money by investing in shares or more hazardous speculation.