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Typical household energy bills in Britain will rise above £3,500 in October and could exceed £6,000 by April. But why are they suddenly going up by so much and what can be done to mitigate the impact on households and the wider economy? Why are bills soaring? The simple answer is the price of gas

The typical household gas and electricity bill in Britain will rise to £3,549 a year from October from £1,971 at present, the sector’s regulator confirmed on Friday, as consumers grapple with a cost of living crisis driven by soaring energy costs. Ofgem said the 80 per cent increase in the so-called price cap, which governs

Financial markets are betting the Bank of England will more than double interest rates by May next year, as concern mounts about further rises in UK inflation. The shift in expectations in the swap market — which anticipates interest rates of 4 per cent in May compared with 1.75 per cent today — are among

Ukraine has called for a permanent mission of nuclear and military experts at the Zaporizhzhia power plant to protect “the security of Europe”, as fears increase about the risk of a nuclear disaster at the Russian-occupied site. German Galushchenko, Ukraine’s energy minister, said he was hopeful that a long-term mission of nuclear experts from the

A former Twitter security chief has claimed the social network misled US regulators over its cyber security defences and fake accounts, allegations that threaten to hamper the company’s legal effort to stop Elon Musk reneging on a $44bn buyout deal. Peiter Zatko, known in cyber security circles as “Mudge”, was fired by Twitter at the

UK inflation is on course to hit 18.6 per cent in January — the highest peak in almost half a century — because of soaring wholesale gas prices, according to a new forecast from Citigroup based on the latest market prices. The investment bank predicted that the country’s retail energy price cap — which limits

The daughter of a Russian ideologue, who is one of the most prominent supporters of President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, died in a car bombing outside Moscow on Saturday night. Russian investigators said Daria Dugina, a nationalist journalist and political analyst, died after the Toyota Land Cruiser she was driving exploded outside Odintsovo, a

Some investors are warning of a mismatch between market expectations and the Federal Reserve’s stated commitment to stamping out inflation as traders stand by their wagers on interest rate cuts next year. Traders in the futures market are betting the central bank’s main interest rate will be cut to 3.3 per cent by the end

UK consumer confidence has fallen to its lowest level since comparable records began almost 50 years ago as the rising cost of living stokes concerns over personal finances and economic prospects. In monthly research from data provider GfK, the August index score for overall consumer confidence fell to minus 44 from a figure of minus

Liz Truss, the frontrunner to be the next UK prime minister, has the City of London’s top regulators in her sights with an immediate review of their roles and responsibilities if she wins, according to campaign insiders. The foreign secretary, who is 32 points ahead of the former chancellor Rishi Sunak in the latest survey

The UK’s rate of inflation jumped to 10.1 per cent in July, the first time it has registered a double-digit annual increase in more than four decades. Consumer price inflation, driven by higher food prices, rose from 9.4 per cent in June to its highest level since February 1982. The double-digit rate exceeded economists’ expectations

Real levels of UK wages fell at the fastest rate for at least 20 years in the second quarter of this year, but the labour market remains too tight for the Bank of England to feel comfortable about inflationary pressures. Data from the Office for National Statistics showed that in the three months to June

China has cut a crucial lending rate in an effort to shore up growth as the world’s second-biggest economy is buffeted by repeated lockdowns and a worsening property downturn. The People’s Bank of China on Monday reduced the medium-term lending rate, through which it provides one-year loans to the banking system, by 10 basis points

Saudi Aramco has broken its quarterly profit record set in May, as soaring energy prices driven by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine deliver windfalls to oil producers. But the state-controlled company’s chief executive warned that spare capacity remained limited as demand was increasing, with pandemic restrictions expected to ease in China, the world’s second-largest oil consumer.

The winner of the Conservative party leadership contest will face huge additional costs of servicing the nation’s debt and paying social security benefits as a result of rising inflation and interest rates, according to Financial Times calculations. The estimates, which are an update to the Bank of England’s previous official inflation forecast in March, show

US attorney-general Merrick Garland said the justice department had moved to unseal the search warrant and the list of items retrieved by the FBI from Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate on Monday, breaking days of silence on the extraordinary operation. In a statement from the headquarters of the Department of Justice in Washington on Thursday, Garland

Britain’s electricity generators will face pressure from ministers to invest their “extraordinary profits” in new green energy projects, rather than paying out the windfall to shareholders. Some have made huge profits from surging electricity prices that have risen in line with the soaring cost of gas, even if the power they produce comes from renewables

Liz Truss is facing an early fight with the Bank of England if she becomes the next UK prime minister after signalling she will give ministers powers to override City regulators seen to be holding back post-Brexit reforms. The foreign secretary has vowed to press ahead with a law allowing ministers to “call in” regulatory

Boris Johnson has rejected calls to draw up an emergency response to the cost of living crisis during his final weeks as prime minister, with Downing Street insisting big fiscal decisions must be taken by his successor. The CBI employers federation on Monday joined calls by Gordon Brown, former Labour prime minister, for Johnson to

China has extended military drills around Taiwan, stoking fears of a drawn-out period of heightened tension that is piling pressure on the US to respond. Beijing’s largest-ever military exercises around Taiwan had been expected to wind down after navigation warnings for seven areas around the country expired early on Monday. But the People’s Liberation Army