Asked by: Lord Campbell of Pittenweem (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on the UK economy of the current level of inflation in the USA.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
In May, US CPI inflation was 5% and the core measure of CPI inflation was 3.8%. The increase in US inflation is expected to be temporary since recent rises have been driven by large price rises in certain sectors as the economy reopens, and issues with temporary supply bottlenecks, though some uncertainty remains. In the UK, monetary policy is set by the operationally independent Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England to meet the Government’s inflation target; there have been minimal spillovers from the increase in US inflation to the UK so far although some factors, such as commodity prices, have affected inflation in both countries.