Howard Archer Subdued Quotations

Relatively subdued consumer spending, intense domestic and international competition, and high input costs continue to dampen ... the sector.

This subdued growth is expected to help to contain underlying inflationary pressures and risks, underpinning our belief that interest rates will be cut by a further 25 basis points in February or March.

This reinforces our belief that consumer spending will remain subdued for some time to come despite September's pick-up in retail sales.