News on April 21, as far as UK consumer activity is concerned, this is another dampening factor and it is difficult to see much improvement in the coming months as high inflationary pressures still weigh on households. In terms of sub-items, non-food sales fell 1.3%, and food sales fell 0.7%. Meanwhile, non-bricks and mortar retail sales (mostly online) also fell 0.8% in March.
As the Bank of England comes under pressure to tighten policy further, the risk is that consumers will come under greater pressure and potentially a deeper recession later this year.