Motoring costs rise at twice the rate of inflation

The AA today reported that the cost of motoring has risen by 5.8% in the last twelve months.
The bulk of this is made up by the rise in fuel prices.

According to the report  ''It now costs €11,817 to run a small family car in the 'Band C' tax category (typical engine size of 1251 – 1500cc) for a year; up by €646 on the figure for 2010.''

The full report is available here.

Some of the costs can be offset by driving more conservativly, click here for tips on reducing your fuel usage: http://irishmoneysavingtips.blogspot.com/2011/05/efficient-driving.html

FS

Inflation static at 2.7%

The annual rate of inflation to the end of June has remained static at 2.7% according to the CSO.

Prices actually fell by 0.1% but this was offset by higher interest rates on borrowing.

The national consumer agency yesterday announced that food inflation is running at 5% as the big grocery retailers seem to be more content price matching their competitors than offering real value to their customers. This has hit people hard as grocery shopping is the second largest outgoing for Irish families outside of mortgage payments.

The results may differ next month as experts agree that the ESB and Airtricity will follow Bord Gais and announce increase energy prices in the coming weeks.

FS

Cost of living still rising, but at a slower rate.

Figures released by the CSO this morning show that the the consumer price index rose by 0.1 per cent last month. This compares to a 0.4 per cent jump between March and April, and a 0.9 per cent in the previous two months.

The annual rate of inflation now stands at 2.7 per cent - meaning that prices were 2.7 per cent higher last month than they were in May 2010. However, this is lower than the annual inflation rate of 3.2 per cent recorded in April.

Taken From:
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2011/0609/breaking19.html

No change in Interest Rates

Today the ECB announced that they will leave the interest rates steady at 1.25%. How ever JC Trichet confirmed that they would exercise "strong vigilance" over inflationary pressures during the next month. In ECB code this means that a rate hike (probably 0.25%) will follow in July.

FS