Give And Take In The Supermarket Sector
The last few weeks has seen many financial observers concentrate on the fuel price competition at the pumps while behind the scenes the cost of a traditional basket of groceries continues to rise. Butter, eggs, milk and other staple elements of the UK diet have risen dramatically in price over the last 12 months and continue to push further ahead.
Many people have not noticed the substantial fall in the price of oil (down from a high of $147 to $114) and the fact that fuel prices at the pumps have not yet caught up with the recent price falls. Some oil experts are suggesting that we are still paying up to 3p a litre more than we should be but that gap is slowly closing. There is no official observer of the oil and fuel price in the UK so there is very little pressure that the authorities can put on the supermarkets.
So while we may be saving a few pence per litre at the forecourts there is every chance that we will be giving this back, and more, in the stores. As they say, what they give with one hand they are taking back with the other.
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