UK inflation falls while Cayman waits

While the UK can be somewhat optimistic on recent inflation rate numbers, Cayman cannot say the same.

The UK has just announced its inflation rate has dropped to the target goal of 2% in May, according to a statement from the UK’s Office of National Statistics.

“The Consumer Prices Index rose by 2% in the 12 months to May 2024, down from 2.3% in the 12 months to April, and well below its recent peak of 11.1% in October 2022,” it said. “The largest downward effects came from food and non-alcoholic beverages, recreation and culture, and furniture and household goods.”

However, it was not such good news for the Cayman Islands, with the Consumer Price Index Report for January to March 2024 indicating that prices for the first quarter of 2024 were up on the same quarter in 2023 and also up on the last quarter of 2023. This means Cayman must wait a little longer to get the relief on the extremely high costs that we are all facing.

In the UK, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak hailed the inflation number as great news, while shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves said British households still faced “acute’ cost-of-living pressure.

“Unlike Conservative ministers, I’m not going to claim that everything is all fine, that the cost of living crisis is over, because I know that pressures on family finances are still acute,” she said.

At the Caymanian Times, we hope that inflation rates will come down soon to ease this financial burden of high prices and high interest rates that are impacting us all. However, even when inflation does come down, we still believe, like the UK’s shadow Chancellor, that families in Cayman will still be feeling the pinch for some time to come.

We just hope that that time “soon comes”.