LONDON (AP) — Britain’s inflation rate rose to the highest level in 40 years last month as Russia’s war in Ukraine fueled further increases in food and fuel prices.
Consumer price inflation accelerated to 9% in the 12 months through April, from 7% the previous month, the Office for National Statistics said Wednesday. That is the highest rate since sometime in 1982, when inflation reached 11%, according to statistical modeling by the ONS.
Millions of households across Britain were hit with a 54% jump in gas and electricity bills last month after regulators boosted the energy price cap to reflect previous increases in wholesale prices. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has put further pressure on food and energy prices.
The figures will increase pressure on the government to mitigate a cost-of-living crisis that economists forecast will produce the biggest drop in living standards since the 1950s.
The government may cut income taxes and is drawing up plans to boost subsidies for low-income people struggling to pay fuel bills, British media reported Wednesday. It is also considering a windfall profits tax on energy companies benefiting from high oil and gas prices.