§ Mr. Pardoeasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the annual rate of inflation over the last three months for which figures are available; and if he 169W regards this as an accurate assessment of the underlying rate of inflation.
§ Mr. DellThe increase in the retail prices index over the three months from June to September expressed at an annual rate was 10.3 per cent. Three-monthly figures pick up changes in the rate of inflation with greater sensitivity than those for year-on-year increases. The figure of 10.3 per cent. overstates the downward trend in inflation, but there is no reason to revise the estimate my right hon. Friend made in April that over the second half of this year the cost of living would rise on average by not much more than 1 per cent. a month, implying an annual rate of the order of 12–16 per cent.