Despite the sharp rise in the price of oil in the recent weeks, the March inflation figures that were released on Monday show only a modest 0.2 percentage points rise in the annual rate of inflation compared with last month’s figures.
In March inflation stood at 1.65%, up from 1.45% in February. Petrol, diesel and package holidays saw the sharpest increases in price compared with a year ago.
Meanwhile, the price of electricity, meat, alcoholic drinks, hotel room and airline tickets served to slow down the overall increase in prices.
Inflation remains lower that it was during the past few years. However, inflation is expected to rise more sharply next month when the increase in energy prices starts to have an impact on the price of other goods.