UK inflation rate breaks three-month decline with surprise rise to 10.4 per cent

UK households came under further pressure in February as the price of food and energy continued to rise due to inflation.

The consumer price index (CPI) increased by an annual 10.4 per cent, which exceeded the 9.9 per cent predicted by economists, as reported by CNBC.

The UK Office for National Statistics said, ‘The largest upward contributions to the monthly change in both the CPIH and CPI rates came from restaurants and cafes, food, and clothing, partially offset by downward contributions from recreational and cultural goods and services (particularly recording media), and motor fuels,” The surprise increase in February marked a break from three consecutive months of slowing price increases since the 41–year high of 11.1 per cent reached in October.

As British households continue to struggle with the rising cost of living, workers from different sectors have taken strike action over pay disputes and working conditions.

To help combat this the Bank of England (BoE) has been raising interest rates to control inflation, and is due to announce its latest monetary policy on Thursday.

Richard Carter, head of fixed interest research at Quilter Cheviot said, ‘The rhetoric from the BoE will continue to be that inflation is the primary concern, however, events in the banking sector have somewhat taken over and the Monetary Policy Committee has been seeing significant divisions on the best way forward.’

The situation has become increasingly complex for central banks around the world amid the repercussions of the failure of Silicon Valley Bank and the emergency bailout of Credit Suisse.

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