Govt hails unexpected dip in inflation rate

ODN

The chief secretary to the Treasury has hailed an unexpected dip in inflation, but admits that the cost of living "is still a pressure for families across the country and there's more work to do". Darren Jones adds the latest Office for National Statistics figures, "shows that the prime minister's plan for change is working". Inflation has fallen to 2.5% in December from 2.6% in November, which will come as a relief to Chancellor Rachel Reeves, who has faced criticism given rising government borrowing costs and a slump in the value of the pound. The latest figures could open the door for an interest rate cut next month. Report by Brooksl. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn

Transcript

00:00Well it's good that inflation is coming down to targets but we know the cost of

00:04living is still a pressure for many families across the country and there's

00:07more work to do. When the Chancellor in this government talked about bringing

00:11stability back to the economy and our politics this was an important part of

00:14that and it shows that the Prime Minister's plan for change is working.

00:17Well there's been a global increase in the cost of debt for governments that

00:21are borrowing for their country's needs. I think what investors want to see from

00:26countries like the UK is that we have a clear plan to deliver the government's

00:30priorities. We've got that in our plan for change and that you have political

00:34and economic stability which is what the Chancellor in this government is

00:36bringing. It's good that inflation is coming down if you look below the bonnet

00:40you can see that for the service industry for example and core goods the

00:43things that we buy every day those numbers have started to move down and

00:47that's welcome for people buying things in this country for businesses and for

00:50people. So our approach to growth in the economy is around stability investment

00:54and reform, bringing political and economic stability back to the country

00:58which we have done as a Labour government, unlocking investment from the

01:02private sector which we are proactively doing. In fact in the first six months of

01:06this government through our National Wealth Fund we've unlocked over a

01:08billion pounds of private sector money creating over 8,000 jobs in the country

01:12already but the Chancellor is clear that on reform we've got to move further and

01:18faster. That's about changing the planning rules, getting the energy

01:21system to work well, making sure we're protecting vulnerable people, basically

01:25the laws and the rules and the regulation that as a government is our

01:28responsibility to streamline so that it unlocks investment and creates jobs and

01:32wealth.

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