Figures show we have met our target to halve inflation by the end of the year. But there is more to do.
The world has been grappling with high inflation, caused by the pandemic and Putin’s weaponisation of energy – which is why the Prime Minister made it his top priority to halve inflation.
New figures this week show thanks to action we have taken, such as holding down energy bills and taking responsible decisions with public finances, we have halved inflation from its peak of 10.7 per cent to 4.6 per cent in October – giving families the immediate relief they need.
Inflation is a tax on people’s pockets – halving it is the best thing we could do to help people’s money go further. As we took the difficult decisions, Labour’s plans would lead to higher inflation for longer, with their £28 billion borrowing plan, risking higher interest rates too.
We are easing pressures on households and helping with the cost of living by meeting our promise to the British people to halve the rate of inflation, easing pressures on families. New figures show the rate of inflation is at 4.6 per cent, down from 10.7 per cent in November 2022. This means people’s money goes further each month.
We resisted calls for additional borrowing and spending that would fuel inflation further, taking the long-term decisions for the economy. We took the difficult decisions to control public spending when inflation was at its peak – this included resisting pressure to fund above-inflation public sector pay settlements, despite Labour pushing us to do so.
The UK’s tight labour market leaves us exposed to inflationary pressures – this means we had to ensure employment remained high. We delivered a package of reforms at the Spring Budget, including uncapping pensions and expanding childcare, to do this.
The Energy Price Guarantee held down inflation by 2.6 percentage points, whilst the Energy Bill Relief Scheme (EBRS) lowered headline inflation and the separate Energy Price Cap had a significant impact on the July inflation figures, reducing CPI inflation by 0.97 percentage points.
We now need to continue to cut inflation and help grow the economy. It’s only by doing this that we can put more money in people’s pockets, cut taxes and further tackle the cost of living.
