Historic high
The average cost of petrol in the UK has surpassed the £1,785 per litre mark, the highest in the country's statistical history. This was reported on Tuesday by the TV channel Sky News, citing industry research.
Thus, a litre of petrol has risen by 6 pence in the last 24 hours alone, with historic highs being updated every few days over the past few months.
Diesel prices in the Kingdom are also rising amid refinery problems around the world and rising energy prices due to anti-Russian Western sanctions imposed in response to events in Ukraine.
Diesel rose to a record £1,852 a litre. A year ago, petrol and diesel in the UK averaged £1.29 and £1.31 a litre respectively.
Experts point out that the rise in price comes despite the UK government cutting the fuel levy by 5p a litre until next March.
The key factor in the continued rise in gasoline prices in the country is said to be the restrictive measures announced last week by the European Union against imports of Russian hydrocarbons. The EU heads of state and government agreed to impose an embargo on Russian oil imports, with a temporary exemption for supplies of this fuel produced by oil pipeline.
However. as economists point out, record high fuel prices in the kingdom inevitably lead to an increase in inflationary trends. At the end of April, annual inflation in the UK accelerated to 9%, the highest in 40 years.
The Bank of England estimates that the United Kingdom's inflation rate will exceed 10% by the end of the year. Earlier, the London-based Centre for Economics and Business Research released a report which warned that the UK risks the biggest fall in living standards since the 1950s.
