British Retailers Discount Prices And Prices Continue To Fall.

Store prices in March were 1.7% lower than that in the same period last year. Most of the non food prices were depressed, but clothing and footwear were the most obvious. Their cost decreased by 12.8% and the price of electronic products dropped by 4.4%. P

Food price inflation also slowed sharply to 0.8%.

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< p > Helen Dickinson, director general of the British Retail Association, said deflation reflects that retailers are trying to attract customers and are always careful to manage their budgets.

"This is fierce competition in the industry, and retailers compete for limited share of consumption power to push this record operation.

Retailers have been using low prices to attract customers to maintain market share.

She said.

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< p > for seven consecutive months, all categories of < a href= "//www.sjfzxm.com/news/index_c.asp" > dress < /a > and < a href= > //www.sjfzxm.com/news/index_c.asp > footwear > /a > prices are falling, and children's wear and women's wear are the biggest in March.

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< p > non food 3.2% deflation is particularly evident, and last month's food inflation figures were also the lowest in history.

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< p > Dickinson said that 15% of the disposable income of 1/3 of the poor families in the UK was spent on food and beverages. The slowdown in food inflation reflected the "significant contribution of retailers to people's living standards".

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< p > consumer > a href= "//www.sjfzxm.com/news/index_c.asp" > price index < /a > -- British official inflation gauge has exceeded the average wage growth in the past five years, and has lowered people's living standard.

However, inflation has dropped in recent months, and is now below the 2% target set by the Bank of England.

It is predicted that wages will eventually exceed inflation later this year, providing consumers with some relief and budgets.

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< p > the decline of fresh food prices is the biggest driving force for the rise of food prices in March. The year-on-year prices in February rose by 0.6%, compared with 1.5% in March.

Prices of fish and vegetables have slowed inflation of milk, cheese, eggs and meat.

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Nelson, P of the British Retail Association, said that since the beginning of this year, some commodity prices have also increased. Due to Brazil's poor grain harvest, it is the largest producer of coffee, sugar and orange juice in the world.

At the same time, the decline of cocoa production in West Africa is attributable to the annual rainfall below the average in previous years, causing prices to rise.

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"P" added: "corn, wheat and cotton prices are over two digits in the past three months.

However, such a sharp rise has been isolated. Although the recent price changes need to be carefully monitored, the prospects for rising global commodity prices are still mild.

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< p > Dickinson said that the government's support for the cost of other retailers, such as the reform of business interest rates and the lifting of the national insurance tax, will be very important in keeping commodity prices down.

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The latest official data released last month showed that rainfall and floods failed to stop consumers' enthusiasm. Retail sales in February increased by 1.7% over the previous month, which is more than three times that of economists.

Retail sales in January dropped 2% from last month.

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