U.K. inflation rate hikes to 0.7% in March fueled by clothing, fuel prices growth

As clothing and fuel prices rose, the British consumer price inflation rate moved up to 0.7% in March. The official figures for the recent period were slightly higher than the 0.4% inflation rate in the previous month.

The official figures released on Wednesday also showed food prices lower than last year.

British inflation is expected to hike sharply in the next months as regulated household energy bills in April increase. Higher global oil prices and price comparisons from a year ago when COVID lockdowns caused demand to slump are additional factors to the anticipated inflation hike.

In February, the Bank of England predicted that inflation would hit 1.9% by the end of 2021. But economists now say that inflation will surpass its 2% target before then.

According to the Office of National Statistics, prices charged by manufacturers rose by 1.9% in the year to March. Also, the prices they paid for their inputs spiked by almost 5.9%, the highest increase since September 2018.