Displaying items by tag: inflation

Labour is calling for an emergency budget to bring forward more measures to tackle the cost-of-living crisis. Inflation is at a thirty-year high. Sir Keir Starmer demanded further measures, for instance a windfall tax on energy firms. Downing Street said the Queen's Speech, in which future policies are outlined, is coming up, and these issues are ‘utterly central to what the Government is trying to do’. Chancellor Rishi Sunak unveiled plans to address the cost of living in March's Spring Statement. They included fuel duty cuts, raising the threshold for paying National Insurance, and cutting the basic income tax rate before the next general election. Meanwhile grocery prices were 5.9% higher in April than a year ago due to rising raw material costs, whilst shoppers are turning to discount retailers Aldi and Lidl as budget pressures grow. The average household food bill will now be a potential extra £271 per year: see

On 17 March Interest rates rose again for the third time in four months to counter higher prices and calm the rise in the cost of living. It means interest rates are now at their highest level since March 2020, when the Covid pandemic began. Energy bills and food costs are increasing and there is concern the war in Ukraine will push prices up further. Inflation, the rate at which prices rise, is currently 5.5%, well above the Bank of England's 2% target. The Bank expects inflation to reach 8%, possibly higher, in coming months, and cited rising prices and strong employment as the reasons for the latest rise. About two million households will see an immediate increase of about £26 a month to a typical tracker mortgage, and £16 to a typical standard variable rate mortgage.

With inflation rising, young people are feeling the pinch more than ever. In a national poll conducted at the beginning of 2022, which involved more than 11,000 people, London came out bottom - with just 37% of Londoners saying they felt their rent was affordable. There is also a gender gap, with 1/3 of women in London spending over 50% of their salary on rent, compared with 1/4 of men. See The Resolution Foundation said the dramatic increase in global oil and gas prices was forecast to push UK inflation above 8% this spring, causing average incomes across Britain to fall by 4% in the coming financial year. That is worth £1,000 per household, the biggest annual decline since 1975. It warned chancellor Rishi Sunak that urgent steps were required to help the poorest families in Britain with soaring living costs, adding that weak wage growth and high inflation would drive more children into poverty.

A shopper grumbled while returning a loaf of bread to a rack - the price had jumped by a third. Nearby a half-mile queue of cars waited at an empty petrol station hoping for a delivery. Zimbabwe has an economic crisis. Basic goods prices rise weekly as the value of the Zimbabwean dollar tumbles. Inflation was 785.6% in April, and poverty is deepening. UN aid agencies reported that 7.7 million people, half of the population, require food assistance. A loaf of bread went up 36% last month, and last week a 22-pound sack of cornmeal jumped 30%. Fuel soared by 152% recently; a similar rise in 2019 sparked national demonstrations and deaths. ‘Things cannot continue this way. These people should just admit they have failed,’ said a Harare resident, referring to President Mnangagwa’s government which took power pledging to revive the economy. Pray for food aid to reach the hungry.

Far from seeing reform after Robert Mugabe was toppled, the country has fallen into deeper crisis as millions are ‘reduced to paupers’. Power cuts from dawn to long after dusk are causing families to cook on firewood in almost total darkness. Monthly earnings barely cover two weeks’ living expenses. With Mnangagwa things have gone from bad to worse with outlandish austerity measures causing 175% inflation. Multiple currencies replaced by another new Zimbabwe dollar, fuel subsidies cut, poor harvests, a cyclone and drought have compounded problems. The Zimbabwe Church is calling for the international community and the government to hear the cries of Zimbabwean families surviving on two meals a day and lacking life-saving medicine. UK aid agency CAFOD is asking for national dialogue, for all in authority to come together and address the current crisis as they do what they can to assist with food, clean water supplies, and seeds (70% of the population grow their own food).

Many Argentines blame the IMF for the country’s 2001 financial meltdown, punctuated by a sovereign bond default and steep currency devaluation, which tossed millions of middle-class Argentines into poverty. Now left-leaning activists have taken to the streets to protest the IMF negotiations taking place in Washington while President Macri is trying to convince average Argentines that his policies will attract the investment needed to establish sustainable economic growth. In Buenos Aires, teachers have been staging protests because life is unbearable as the value of the peso continues to decline by a further 30%, sparking even more inflation. They are demanding pay rises, and say they have been living below the poverty line. To watch a video of thousands of people taking to the streets almost every day go to: