In the News

The annual rate of inflation in the Isle of Man as measured by the Retail Prices Index (RPI) remained the same in April as in March at 5%.

In comparison to the UK this is somewhat better news than in previous months. In the year to April, the UK RPI annual inflation was 5.3 per cent (the highest since July 1991), up from 4.4 per cent in March.

The governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King blamed rising fuel costs and the tax rises on alcohol that were introduced in last March's budget. He also cited with the inflationary impact of the weaker pound, and pointed out that prices were lower in 2009 because of the temporary cut in VAT.