LONDON, Aug 8 Reuters The pound fell on Tuesday, but held above last week39;s onemonth lows, after a survey showed British retailers logged their slowest sales growth in 11 months in July, thanks to rainy weather and high inflation.

The British Retail Consortium BRC said retail sales values rose by 1.5 compared with July last year, less than half the 12month average growth rate of 3.9 and down from this year39;s peak of 5.2 in February.

The data is not adjusted for inflation so July39;s small rise in spending represented a fall in terms of sales volumes.

Sterling was last down 0.2 at 1.2757. Against the euro, the pound fell 0.1 to 86.10 pence.

British consumers have, so far, largely weathered the impact of high inflation and rising interest rates, but economists believe this resilience is likely to wane in the coming months.

Wage growth adjusted for inflation is negative, consumers are loading up on unsecured loans like credit card debt and their finances will be squeezed as borrowing rates for mortgages in particular rise to reflect not just past interest rate rises, but expectations for future ones as well.

It is clear that consumers are spending their money much more carefully and spending only when necessary, as Bank of England rate hikes continue to bite on incomes, CMC Markets chief markets strategist Michael Hewson said.

With some consumers approaching a cliff edge as their fixed rate terms come up for expiry, they may well be saving more in order to…