Up, Up And Away

Posted by Nogger - a legend in his own mind at 12:03 | Categorized as

15/02/11 -- UK inflation continues to rise, hitting 4% last month from 3.7% in December, according to data out this morning. That's the highest since November 2008, but unlikely to be the end of the story, with BOE governor Merv the Swerve saying 5% could be on the cards in the not too distant future.

He's probably right, hence the pound rising above 1.61 against the dollar and 1.19 versus the euro as this reinforces pundits ideas that an interest rate rise may be in the offing before spring is out.

The VAT increase and rising crude oil price were largely to blame, according to Merv. Interestingly whilst Brent crude has risen by USD8/barrel since the turn of the year, NYMEX crude is down by a similar amount.