Brexiteers have lauded the weak pound as a boon for the economy. But sterling’s plunge to a 31-year low against the dollar is pushing up prices. Petrol, PG Tips, Marmite and holiday money are the latest items to face the pinch.
Coupled with rising crude oil prices, industry experts are predicting further rises in pump prices before the end of October, since oil is traded in dollars on international markets. The average price of a litre of unleaded petrol was 114.7 pence yesterday, up from an average of 111.9 pence in September, according to PetrolPrices.com.
The Petrol Retailers Association said on Monday that “wholesale costs to retailers have increased by over 6ppl [pence per litre] for petrol and 7ppl for diesel in the last few weeks”. It said motorists can expect increases of 4 or 5 pence per litre by the end of October, unless there are favourable corrections to the exchange rate and global oil prices.
A similar fate could await shoppers. Tesco today ended a price dispute with Unilever that led to products such as Marmite and PG Tips being removed from its online shopping platform. PG Tips was ninth in a list of brands most loved by Leave voters. Although it was not immediately clear what the two retail giants had agreed on price, Unilever had been pushing for a hike in what it is paid.
The weak pound has also increased costs for British holidaymakers. Airport bureaux de change were earlier this week offering on average just less than a euro for each pound, according to the BBC.
This morning, The Sun lambasted Moneycorp, which is offering only €0.88 for a pound, for “using Brexit as an excuse to charge tourists rip-off rates on their euros”. But even if in this case holidaymakers are getting a raw deal, the tabloid should surely realise that it is the Brexit it campaigned for – which has seen the wholesale value of sterling tumble from €1.31 to €1.11 – that is the main culprit.
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Edited by Hugo Dixon
I am not quite sure how the exchange rate affects the cost of marmite since I believe that the marmite on our shop shelves in manufactured entirely in the uk. I favour Brexit. I talk in terms of Parliament, democracy, the rule of law, and the long term prosperity of our country. I often find Bremainers talking about things like cups of tea, marmite and the cost of foreign holidays.