'Awful April' gives rise to alarming spike in inflation

INFLATION is expected to have risen above 3% last month as Britain reels under the costly impact of “Awful April” with its tax rises and bill hikes.

- By Mauricio Alencar

A Bloomberg poll of economists has predicted inflation to come in at 3.3%, a sharp spike from March when price growth was 2.6% year-on-year.

The rise will likely alarm interest rate-setters at the Bank of England and Chancellor Rachel Reeves, who has made stabilising the UK economy a key mission after years of cost-of-living misery.

City analysts blame the spike on Ms Reeves’ £20billion tax hike on employers through higher national insurance contributions, which began last month.