Inflation in Britain jumped last month to its highest annual rate since 1982, increasing pressure on Finance Minister Rishi Sunak to increase support for families facing a deepening cost of living crisis.
Consumer price inflation hit 9% in April, surpassing even the peaks of the recession in the early 1990s that many Britons remember due to ultra-high interest rates and widespread mortgage defaults, the Office for National Statistics said.
A Archyde.com poll of economists had indicated a reading of 9.1%.
The British pound fell following the data and fell 0.4% once morest dollar American.
Higher energy bills were the biggest driver of price growth in Britain in April, reflecting last month’s increase in regulated energy charges.
Sunak said that countries around the world are suffering from high rates of inflation. “We cannot fully protect people from these global challenges, but we are providing significant support wherever we can, and are ready to take further action,” he added.
Anti-poverty activists have called for him to act now, starting with an immediate increase in the value of welfare benefits to keep pace with inflation.
A survey published on Tuesday showed that two out of three people in Britain have turned off their heating, nearly half have driven fewer cars or changed supermarkets, and just over a quarter say they have skipped meals.
Earlier this month, the Bank of England expected inflation to reach 10% later this year, and investors are expecting the BoE to add to the four rate increases it has made since December, which raised the interest rate to 1%, This is the highest level since 2009.
Paul Dills, chief economist at The kingdom The United States at “Capital Economics”, on Wednesday’s data: “Things will get worse before they get better.”
There are signs of more inflation pressures ahead, as manufacturers experienced their largest ever combined increase in the prices they pay for their inputs which rose 18.6% annually, matching the highest level in March.
Factories increased their prices by 14% in the 12 months to April, the largest jump since July 2008.
