The squeeze gets tighter

Will anything break for consumers at the moment?  After the bleak news on price inflation over the past few days, data from MoneyFacts suggests not.  They've found that fixed-rate mortgage rates have hit their highest levels since the beginning of the decade, with the average rate for a two-year loan standing at 6.64 percent.  As the Telegraph points out, this means that someone who took out such a loan two years ago will have seen their monthly payments rise by £206.

The worry is that the squeeze on consumers will bleed into other areas of the economy.  I know of several SME owners who now dread the fuel expense requests that their travelling reps send in, and are distinctly trepidatious about future wage settlements.  They, like us, will be watching this space.