Expect a lull before the storm continuespublished at 06:55 BST
Dharshini David
Deputy economics editor
Price pressures may have heated up in some areas – but a fall in the domestic energy price cap in April, set some time before the Iran conflict started, may likely have helped keep a lid on inflation as well as bills last month.
But other things were creeping up – petrol prices hit 158p per litre in April – up almost a fifth compared to before the war, while diesel rose was up a third as global oil prices rose.
And higher costs will continue to filter through to other items – from food to flights – but some impacts will take months to come through.
So this is likely an inflation lull before the storm resumes.
Economists predict that inflation won’t get anywhere near the double-digit rates seen just a few years ago – but how high it goes will go depends on the as yet uncertain path of the conflict.
For most, incomes are still outpacing inflation, and the support the chancellor is preparing to unveil may help some, albeit, we expect a very limited number. But things will feel more stretched in the coming months.
