Abacus Daily Debt News

Food inflation ‘could exacerbate debt problems’

The increasing price of food could see the debt problems of the poorer members of society in Britain worsen, it has been suggested.

According to the British Retail Consortium, food inflation is at its highest level for a year.

It escalated to 3.8 per cent in August from 2.5 per cent in July, which is the most elevated it has been since July 2009.

Moreover, overall shop price inflation grew in August to 1.7 per cent from the 1.5 per cent recorded in July this year.

Non-food inflation, however, slowed to 0.5 per cent from one per cent in the same period.

Stephen Robertson, director general at the British Retail Consortium, said: "Past rises in the cost of global commodities, such as wheat and sugar, are filtering through to food prices."

A recent study carried out by Gocompare.com found 41 per cent of consumers in the UK believe their finances are currently in a worse condition than they were 12 months earlier.

By James Francis