UK shop prices fall in March at fastest rate since 2006 - BRC
LONDON, April 8 (Reuters) - - Prices in British shops fell last month at the fastest rate since records began more than eight years ago, pulled down by a sharp decline in food prices, the British Retail Consortium said on Wednesday.
The BRC said retail prices in March were 2.1 percent lower than a year earlier, marking the largest decline in shop prices since the series started in December 2006. Prices had fallen 1.7 percent in February.
Food prices declined 0.9 percent, the steepest drop on record, compared with a 0.4 percent fall the previous month.
The BRC said this boded well for the economy, with strong consumer confidence and falling prices likely to tempt Britons into spending on the high street.
Consumer price inflation fell to zero in February for the first time on record. Economists think it may have fallen below zero in March.
(Reporting by Andy Bruce; Editing by Crispian Balmer; ((andy.bruce@thomsonreuters.com; +442075423484; Reuters Messaging: andy.bruce.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)))
