The annual inflation in the UK has hit a fresh 40-year high, according to official data showed on Wednesday, as reported by AFP. The surging inflation will further erode workers’ wages and pressuring the Bank of England to hike interest rates.
According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in a statement, the rate edged higher to 9.1 per cent in May from 9.0 per cent in April, remaining at the highest level since 1982. Inflation in the UK is set to top 11 per cent before the end of the year according to the Bank of England, fuelled by rising energy prices.
ONS Chief Economist Grant Fitzner said, “Inflation increased in May on continued steep food price rises and record high petrol prices.” This was offset by clothing costs rising by less than a year earlier and a drop in prices of computer games, he added. Decades-high inflation is causing a cost-of-living crisis.
The railway workers in England this week are staging the biggest strike in more than 30 years to protest against price rise which erode the value of their wages. Countries worldwide are being hit by soaring inflation as the Russia-Ukraine war and the easing of Covid-19 restrictions fuel energy and food price hikes.
That has forced central banks to hike interest rates, risking the prospect of recession as higher borrowing costs hit investment and consumers further in the pocket.
Since December, the Bank of England has raised its key interest rate five times. The UK meanwhile faces more strikes, with lawyers in England and Wales having voted to walk out from next week in a row over legal aid funding. Teaching staff, workers in the state-run National Health Service and the postal service are also mulling strike action.