Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

UK inflation hits fresh 40-year high of 9.4% and ‘could hit 12% in October’

UK inflation hits fresh 40-year high of 9.4% and ‘could hit 12% in October’

May’s 9.1% figure exceeds analysts’ expectations, with some saying Bank’s 11% autumn forecast is low

The prospect of inflation hitting 12% this autumn is looming larger after dearer fuel and food pushed the official measure of the cost of living to a fresh 40-year high.

A one-month increase in petrol prices not seen since at least the late 1980s, coupled with across the board increases in food staples such as eggs, milk, cheese and vegetables sent Britain’s annual inflation rate up from 9.1% to 9.4% in June.

With the annual energy price cap predicted to rise from just under £2,000 to more than £3,000 in October, analysts warned there was worse to come.

Paul Dales, chief UK economist at Capital Economics said there was some sign global price pressures were being replaced by higher domestically generated inflation.

“We still think inflation will rise to 12% in October and that interest rates will be raised from 1.25% to 3%, although it’s finely balanced whether they rise by 25bps or 50bps in August,” Dales said.

The Bank of England said last month it expected the annual inflation rate, which stood at 2.5% in June 2021 and has risen for nine months in a row, to peak at just over 11% in the autumn before falling sharply next year.

The City had been forecasting inflation would pick up to 9.3% after the price of unleaded petrol rose by about 20p a litre in June. Markets are expecting the Bank to respond to the highest inflation since 1982 by raising interest rates by either 0.25 or 0.5 percentage points next month. Andrew Bailey, the Bank’s governor said both would be on the table at the August meeting of its monetary policy committee.


Prices rose by 0.8% between May and June – the highest June increase since modern records began in 1988 – compared with a 0.5% jump in the same month a year earlier.

The ONS chief economist, Grant Fitzner, said: “Annual inflation again rose to stand at its highest rate for over 40 years. The increase was driven by rising fuel and food prices; these were only slightly offset by falling secondhand car prices.”

The UK’s statistical agency said the cost of motor fuels had risen by more than 42% in the year to June, with petrol and diesel hitting new highs last month. More expensive fuel was only partly offset by a drop in the price of secondhand cars.


Food was the other big factor behind the inflation rate rise, with particularly sharp increases in the cost of milk, eggs and cheese all contributing to a 1.2% increase between May and June and a 12-month rise of 9.8%.

The Resolution Foundation thinktank said the inflation rate for the poorest 10% of households was already running at 10.6% because they spent a higher proportion of their incomes on food and energy.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Families are under immense pressure as food and energy costs soar, and companies raise prices much faster than wages.”

Core inflation – which strips out food, energy, alcohol and tobacco – stood at 5.8% last month, down from 5.9% in the year to May.


Yet more inflationary pressure could be in the pipeline, according to separate ONS data for producer prices, which measures how much firms are paying for their fuel and raw material and the prices they charge their customers.

“The cost of both raw materials and goods leaving factories continued to rise, driven by higher metal and food prices respectively,” Fitzner said. “These increases saw raw materials post their highest annual increase on record, with manufactured goods at a 45-year high.”

The chancellor, Nadhim Zahawi, said: “Countries around the world are battling higher prices and I know how difficult that is for people right here in the UK, so we are working alongside the Bank of England to bear down on inflation.

“We’ve introduced £37bn-worth of help for households, including at least £1,200 for 8 million of the most vulnerable families and lifting over 2 million more of the lowest paid out of paying personal tax.”

His Labour counterpart, Rachel Reeves, said: “The cost of living crisis is leaving families more worried every day but all we get from the Tories is chaos, distraction and unfunded fantasy economics.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Unelected PM of the UK holds an emergency meeting because a candidate got voted in… which he says is a threat to democracy…
Farmers break through police barriers in Brussels.
Ukraine Arrests Father-Son Duo In Lockbit Cybercrime Bust
US Offers $15 Million For Info On Leaders Of Cybercrime Group Lockbit
Apple warns against drying iPhones with rice
Alexei Navalny: UK sanctions Russian prison chiefs after activist's death
German economy is in 'troubled waters' - ministry
In a recent High Court hearing, the U.S. argued that Julian Assange endangered lives by releasing classified information.
Tucker Carlson says Boris Johnson wants "a million dollars, in Bitcoin or cash, from Tucker Carlson to talk about Ukraine.
Russia is rebuilding capacity to destabilize European countries, new UK report warns
EU Commission wants anti-drone defenses at Brussels HQ
Von der Leyen’s 2nd-term pitch: More military might, less climate talk
EU Investigates TikTok for Child Safety Concerns
EU Launches Probe Into TikTok Over Child Protection Under Digital Content Law
EU and UK Announce Joint Effort on Migration
Ministers Confirm Proposal to Prohibit Mobile Phone Usage in English Schools
Avdiivka - Symbol Of Ukrainian Resistance Now In Control Of Russian Troops
"Historic Step": Zelensky Signs Security Pact With Germany
"Historic Step": Zelensky Signs Security Pact With Germany
Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny has died at the Arctic prison colony
Tucker Carlson grocery shopping in Russia. This is so interesting.
France and Germany Struggle to Align on European Defense Strategy
‘A lot higher than we expected’: Russian arms production worries Europe’s war planners
Greece Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage and Adoption Rights
Russia "Very Close" To Creating Cancer Vaccines, Says Vladimir Putin
Hungarian Foreign Minister: Europeans will lose Europe, the Union's policy must change drastically
Microsoft says it caught hackers from China, Russia and Iran using its AI tools
US Rejects Putin's Ceasefire Offer in Ukraine
The Dangers of Wildfire Smoke and Self-Protection Strategies
A Londoner has been arrested for expressing his Christian beliefs.
Chinese Women Favor AI Boyfriends Over Humans
Greece must address role in migrant vessel disaster that killed 600: Amnesty
Google pledges 25 million euros to boost AI skills in Europe
Hungarian President Katalin Novák Steps Down Amid Pardon Controversy
Activist crashes Hillary Clinton's speech, calls her a 'war criminal.'
In El Salvador, the 'Trump of Latin America' stuns the world with a speech slamming woke policing after winning a landslide election
Trudeau reacts to Putin's mention of Canadian Parliament applauding a former Ukrainian Nazi in his interview with Tucker Carlson.
The Spanish police blocked the farmers protest. So the farmers went out and moved the police car out of the way.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy fires top Ukraine army commander
Tucker Carlson's interview with Vladimir Putin raises EU concerns
Finnish Airline, Finnair, is voluntarily weighing passengers to better estimate flight cargo weight
Russia's Economy Expands by 3.6% Due to Increased Military Spending
Ukraine MPs Vote To Permit Use Of Dead Soldiers' Sperm
German Princess Becomes First Aristocrat To Pose Naked On Playboy Cover
UK’s King Charles III diagnosed with cancer
EU's Ursula von der Leyen Confronts Farmer Protests Amid Land Policy Debates
Distinguishing Between Harmful AI Media and Positive AI-Generated Content: A Crucial Challenge for the EU
Tucker Carlson explains why he interviewed Putin
Dutch farmers are still protesting in the Netherlands against the government, following the World Economic Forum's call for 'owning nothing.'
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stands up for European farmers and says, 'Brussels is suffocating European farmers.
×