The Know Daily - Wednesday 17 April 2024

_{Read in 5m 24s ∙ Listening to Suki Waterhouse ∙}

A record number of dams were removed from Europe’s rivers last year, new analysis has revealed. 50% more barriers were taken out in 2023 compared with the year before, encouraging waterways to return to their natural state and helping flora and fauna to thrive. Dam good news 👏 

📉 Economy update

UK inflation fell to 3.2% in March, the lowest level in two-and-a-half years.

Tell me more. 
Inflation is the increase in the price of goods and services over time - and one of the key ways it’s measured is through the Consumer Prices Index (CPI). Figures released this morning by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that according to this measure, the UK’s annual inflation rate fell from 3.4% in February, and for the second month in a row.

Grant Fitzner, chief economist at the ONS, said that slowing food price rises were the “main reason” for the fall, though this was partially offset by rising fuel prices.

What should we make of this?
Today’s figure represents an easing of pressure on households amid the cost of living crisis, but a drop in inflation doesn’t mean that prices are falling - just that they are rising more slowly.

Sky News’ business presenter Ian King said the 3.2% figure was “pretty good news”, but not as good as the 3.1% fall that economists had predicted.

What happens now?
The latest figures from the ONS have raised hopes that the Bank of England will be more inclined to cut its key interest rate in the coming months. The cost of borrowing currently stands at its highest level since the 2008 financial crisis, at 5.25%.

One senior economist told The Guardian that while today’s figure alone won’t be enough to drive a cut in rates next month, it could be “on the horizon”. Inflation is expected to fall further in April, after a sharp drop in household gas and electricity bills.