UK inflation rose to a 30-year high of 7% after a surge in fuel prices and increased pressure on the Bank of England to raise interest rates again.

Consumer prices rose at an annual rate of 7% last month, up from 6.2% in February and well above 0.7% in March 2021, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday.

The reading was above the 6.7 percent forecast by economists polled by Reuters and the highest since March 1992, when it reached 7.1 percent.

Inflation in March was more than three times the Bank of England’s 2% target and was above its forecast of “around 6%” at its last meeting. The Bank of England said it expects inflation to climb to 8 percent in April and could rise further in the autumn after regulators raise energy price caps.

Core inflation, which strips out volatile items such as energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, rose to 5.7% in March from 0.9% a year earlier, beating analysts’ expectations

Grant Fitzner, chief economist at ONS, said: “Broad-based price increases led to another sharp rise in annual inflation in March. The biggest increase was in petrol costs, mostly collected before recent cuts to fuel taxes and furniture. s price.

“Restaurant and hotel prices also rose sharply in March, and many different types of food have risen in price after falling a year ago,” he added.

Rising consumer prices have eroded what households can buy with their money, with official statistics predicting that real incomes of British households will contract this year at the fastest pace since records began in the 1950s.

The March data is the last inflation report before the Bank of England’s next monetary policy decision on May 5. Nomura economist George Buckley expects interest rates to rise in May, August and November, raising the bank rate to 1.50% from the current 0.75%. A penny by the end of the year.

On Tuesday, US inflation was 8.5% in March, the highest level since 1981.