IBEC issues inflation warning

The employers’ body IBEC has warned of the dangers of high inflation after figures released today put the rate at 4.8%.

Consumer prices rose by 0.9% last month, according to the Central Statistics Office, the same rate of increase as April 2001.

IBEC’s Brian Geoghegan said: "The inflation figure is high. It has been high for several months now. There was some expectations that, as the economy slowed, it would fall back, but that’s not happened.

"We are concerned about wage trends, both in the public sectors and the private sectors. These are tending to push up the price of labour-intensive services."