Inflation falls to 0%: what does it mean for the UK economy?

Deflation is good for pensioners and people with cash in the bank but those losing out include anyone with debts

Britain is within a month of a period of deflation. When the figures for March come out next month cheaper energy bills will mean that the cost of living is lower than it was a year earlier.

These are uncharted waters for the UK, at least in the modern era. There have been times when inflation has turned negative but the last time prices were falling was in 1960, the year John F Kennedy became president of the US, and that was on the old RPI measure. This is a record low since the move to using the consumer prices index as the preferred yardstick of inflation.

Related: UK inflation falls to zero for first time in decades - live updates