UK inflation rose to 3.3 per cent in March, up from 3.0 per cent in February, according to official data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), marking the first visible impact of the Iran conflict on domestic prices.
The increase was largely driven by higher fuel costs, with factory gate prices also rising more than expected. The data has raised concerns at the Bank of England about the potential return of persistently elevated inflation if energy price pressures continue.
Despite the uptick, economists said the rise is unlikely to prompt the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee to raise interest rates at its upcoming meeting next week. However, analysts warned that the key risk lies in whether higher energy costs begin to feed into broader, sustained inflation across the economy.