The annual inflation rate in Britain in December reached its highest level in three decades, according to official data published on Wednesday, driven by the rise in the prices of clothes, food and furnishings.
The annual rate reached 5.4% last month, after recording 5.1% in November, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, which added that the percentage was the highest since March 1992, quoting AFP.
It was UK consumer price inflation It rose to 5.1% in November, its highest level in 10 years, according to the Office for National Statistics. Prices are outpacing wage increases and posing a major challenge for the Bank of England as it grapples with a faltering economy and a fresh surge of coronavirus infections.
The November CPI reading was much stronger than economists had expected at 4.7%, and the highest since September 2011. Record gasoline prices were a major contributor to the sharp rise in inflation. But retail prices for a wide range of goods have also risen, including clothing, food, used cars, alcohol and tobacco, as well as books, toys and games.
According to CNN, Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macro Economics, said inflation should stay near the November rate over the next four months, before rising to 6% in April and then dropping significantly. Sharp.
He explained that the shocking inflation figures are “uncomfortably high” for the Bank of England, which usually responds to rising inflation by raising interest rates from the record low of 0.1%. The Monetary Policy Committee is scheduled to meet today, to decide on monetary policy, just one day after urging the International Monetary Fund to raise interest rates.