§ 35. Mr. Mike Thomasasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his Department's estimate of the effect of the budget and related matters on the retail price index as a whole and of the RPI for retirement pensioners in particular.
§ Mr. DellAs my right hon. Friend explained in his Budget Statement, the Budget changes in VAT, Customs and Excise duties and vehicle excise duties will add about 2¾per cent. to the RPI over the next three months or so. The effect on the index for one-person pensioner households will be about 1½per cent.; for two-person pensioner households it will be about 2 ¼ per cent.
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