INFLATION may be largely out of our control but there is no need to panic, business experts have advised. It emerged last week that inflation had hit a record 17-year high of 5.5% for the end of June, up 0.7% from March.

The figure for June last year was 4.7% and just 3.4% for June 2006. Guernsey’s inflation figure is largely determined by wider economic influences, business community leaders said.

‘There is clearly a concerning trend of rising inflation since the last quarter of 2007, but a significant amount of this is due to housing, fuel and food costs – factors that are outside the States’ control,’ said Guernsey Chamber of Commerce president Paul Luxon (pictured).

‘Guernsey is a small island with limited land and we import virtually everything we consume. It’s a global situation and our economy has to cope with it, just as the UK does.’

Wage negotiations were not the way to go, said Mr Luxon. ‘Whilst the majority of factors affecting inflation are external, we must try to be stringent with the things that can influence it, such as wage settlements.’