London, Thanasis Gavos
One in four Britons has been forced to skip meals due to rising cost of living, reveals Ipsos UK poll in a sample of more than 2,000 citizens for Sky News.
More than 80% of respondents state that worry about accuracy in the coming months, with the greatest concern being expressed by those with lower incomes.
The British are mainly affected by very large increases in energy bills, after the decision of the regulator Ofgem to increase from the beginning of April the ceiling on household bills by 700 pounds a year to 1,971 pounds on average, that is by 54%.
The decision followed the increase in its price natural gas in the global wholesale market which in turn put pressure on energy companies, resulting in about 30 in Britain to have declared bankruptcyor from last year in August.
The charge limit is approx 23 million households falling under the variable billing plans of power companies.
A new ceiling is expected to rise in October due to the rising energy price worldwide due to the war in Ukrainewith some estimates raising the average annual charge to 6 2,600.
Ofgem announced that it is considering adjusting the ceiling on charges every three months instead of six.
At the same time inflation rose to 7% in March, ie at a high of three decades, while the Bank of England has predicted that in the coming months this percentage will peak at just over 10%. The latest data from the week is expected to show that inflation has already climbed to 9% in April.
Despite warnings from analysts about a possible economic downturn, the central bank has raised its key lending rate to 1% in a bid to tame galloping inflation. This price was formed after four increases from December onwards, when the interest rate was at historical low of 0.1%. 1% is the highest key interest rate since 2009.
The Office for National Statistics also said that real wages in Britain fell by 1.2% in the first quarter of the year due to high inflation. However, if bonuses are taken into account, incomes increased by 1.4%.
The Independent Budget Office has already warned that British households will experience the biggest decline in their real income since comparable data began in 1956. The reduction for this year is projected at 2.2%.
In addition to energy costs, households are affected by rising prices even for commodities. Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey warned on Monday that people would face prices “Apocalypse” in food, mainly cereals and sunflower oil.
Mr Bailey told a parliamentary committee that 80% of the increase in inflation above the 2% target was due to factors beyond the control of the central government, mainly in the Ukraine war, but also to the effects on Chinese production of renewed of concerns there about the coronavirus.
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