UK Inflation Rate Remains Higher Than Expected

The inflation rate in the United Kingdom (UK) has remained at 8.7% in the month of May, defying predictions that it would come down.

This has increased the pressure on the Bank of England just as it planned to increase the country’s interest rates for the 13th time in a row in a bid to combat the inflation, Reuters reports.

The current figure has made UK’s inflation the fastest-growing of any major advanced economy in the world.

The country has endured months of strikes from workers in different sectors, most of whom are demanding increased wages because their wages cannot support the high cost of living.

This has also put pressure on Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, to act as he had stated while contesting for his current position, that cutting inflation was a priority for his party, the Conservative Party.

Inflation in the UK began to rise in 2021 when many economies faced supply-chain restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and it then accelerated sharply after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine caused the prices of European natural gas to skyrocket.