RPIX
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{{short description, Measure of inflation RPIX is a measure of inflation in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
, equivalent to the all items
Retail Price Index In the United Kingdom, the Retail Prices Index or Retail Price Index (RPI) is a measure of inflation published monthly by the Office for National Statistics. It measures the change in the cost of a representative sample of retail goods and servic ...
(RPI) excluding mortgage interest payments.


History

It was the UK's target rate of inflation from October 1992 to December 2003. From June 1997, the Bank of England was given the task of setting interest rates to meet an inflation target of 2.5 per cent on the RPIX measure. Mortgage interest payments were excluded from the inflation target because otherwise the Bank's behaviour would be distorted. Any rate rise from the Bank, aimed at bringing inflation lower, would have the side effect of raising interest payments on
variable-rate mortgage A variable-rate mortgage, adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM), or tracker mortgage is a mortgage loan with the interest rate on the note periodically adjusted based on an index which reflects the cost to the lender of borrowing on the credit markets.Wi ...
s, causing higher inflation on any broad measure such as RPI. Targeting RPI would thus create a vicious circle of higher rates, something avoided by using RPIX as the target. In December 2003 the Bank's target measure was changed to the Consumer Price Index, or CPI, and the target was set at 2 per cent.


Publication

The RPIX continues to be published each month by the
Office for National Statistics The Office for National Statistics (ONS; cy, Swyddfa Ystadegau Gwladol) is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the UK Parliament. Overview The ONS is responsible for t ...
(ONS).


See also

* Consumer price index, which provides an international overview


External links


Latest on inflation from the ONS
Price indices Office for National Statistics Inflation in the United Kingdom