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Showing posts from August, 2022
Interest rates and inflation First of all, let’s get some basics together. Reproduced below is The Times ‘explainer’ with my numbering of reasons and highlighting of the players involved: The Bank of England has warned that it could peak at 13% this year when the energy price cap goes up again. But what is pushing up prices? Energy bills are by far one of the biggest contributors. (1) Gas prices rocketed as economies around the world reopened after the coronavirus lockdowns. (2) The war in Ukraine has exacerbated the problem. In April, average gas and electricity prices jumped by 53.5% and 95.5% respectively compared with a year ago. (3) Average energy bills are now forecast to hit £3,850 by January 2023 after Russia cut gas supplies further. Fuel remains at some of the highest levels seen on record, although pump prices are falling, slowly . Average petrol prices were 182.69p a litre in July . In early June you could expect to pay 186.59p. In May you could expect to pay 160.31p