McGrath: 'Justification' for supermarkets to cut prices

Finance Minister Michael McGrath said: 'We do acknowledge that energy prices are a significant input cost for businesses and while they’ve reduced quite substantially at a wholesale level, the pass through so far has been limited. But I do think we will begin to see it.' Darragh McSweeney/Provision

There is "justification" for supermarkets to further reduce food prices, but some businesses will still face rising costs, Finance Minister Michael McGrath has said. 

The finance minister also said that wholesale energy costs have fallen, but the passing on of those benefits have been limited. He was responding to questions after the latest official figures showed that wholesale price pressures in April were still evident across a wide range of products, even as electricity prices fell sharply in the wholesale markets from the previous month.