§ Mr. Malcolm BruceTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what plans he has to change his target for underlying inflation from the RPIX to the RPIY measure, [26704]
(2) whether the policy indicated by his predecessor to the Treasury Select Committee to keep RPIX inflation below 2 per cent. remains Government policy; and what is his target for underlying inflation beyond the end of the current Parliament. [26703]
§ Mr. NelsonThe Government's aim is to keep underlying inflation in the range 1 to 4 per cent., and to bring it down into the lower half of this range by the end of the present Parliament. I have no plans to change the objective for that period.