UK prices ‘to keep rising’

British consumer prices rose last month at the fastest pace since June 2014 and are set to rise further, propelled by higher global oil prices and the Brexit-fuelled fall in the pound, official data showed yesterday.

Consumer prices rose 1.8% compared with a year earlier, picking up from 1.6% in December, and prices paid by factories jumped by more than 20%.

The Bank of England expects inflation to approach 2.7% by the end of the year while many economists say it will go above 3%, putting to the test the BoE’s decision to keep interest rates at a fraction above zero.