European Stocks Higher; Central Bank Meetings Seen as Key

[MongiIG]

By Peter Nurse, 14th December 2021.

Investing.com - European stock markets traded higher Tuesday, rebounding from a weak start to the week as investors digested the spread of the Omicron Covid variant ahead of three key central bank meetings in Europe and the U.S. 

At 3:45 AM ET (0845 GMT), the DAX in Germany traded 0.4% higher, the CAC 40 in France rose 0.6% and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 climbed 0.6%. 

Investors are firmly focusing on policy-setting meetings from a number of high profile central banks, including the Bank of England and the European Central Bank in Europe, but probably more importantly the U.S. Federal Reserve.

[skyreach]

CENTRAL BANKS INFLATION CONCERNS AND THE NEXT DANGER

    Omicron variant of the corona virus has central bankers think again. Yet this is a transient factor. The focus may go off the primary factors and the longer term cycles and focus on keeping businesses open to do business, with proper protocols in place and used effectively. This article is a plea and an alternative overview viewpoint highlighting  some major issues, as most usually are inwardly focused on their “thing” only.

    Higher commodities costs, higher consumer costs, higher inflation rates and extremely low bank deposit interest rates for the public for a long long time. Then there is the debt mountain getting ever bigger (highest in history) encouraged by the extremely low rates to help government borrow, borrow, borrow cheaply for ever more AS IF THERE IS NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT YET INTEREST PAYMENTS ARE SHOOTING UP AS A PERCENTAGE OF THE TOTAL GOVERNMENT BUDGET.

    All the economic negatives mentioned (& there are others ) are a killer to a balanced and steady economic growth. Inflation is alright in a properly growing economy but we have NOT HAD THAT SINCE AFTER 2007 CRASH AS THE AVERAGE GDP GROWTH HAS BEEN USUALLY LESS THEN THE BOOM TIME PRIOR TO 2007 PERIOD. Currently we are making up for a lost year of production and that has its own headaches.

    The factors of creative accounting , though well known, is not handled as a priority. Many Major companies have not been investing for organic growth but borrowing to purchase share buy backs to artificially manipulate the balance sheet fundamentals. QE, a fancy new coined term to say subsidies for business for free from the government via the central bank (on the whole) . The taxpayer can pay for it, a distribution of costs to all BUT NOT THOSE PROFITS ALREADY MADE AND TAKEN BY THE SAME ENTERPRISES!  SOMETHING IS BOUND TO OVERLOAD THE FINANCIAL SYSTEM AS A RESULT.

    ALL THE TEAMS AND PLAYERS ARE NOT PLAYING BY THE RULES AND THERE IS NO REFEREE TO HANDLE AND ELIMINATE SUCH ADVERSE PRACTICES.  PERHAPS THIS IS AN INDICATOR OF THE MORAL LAPSE, EXTRAORDINARY GREED AND POOR LEADERSHIP. EVERY ONE RELIES ON THE “OFFICIALS” TO TINKER THE “SOLUTIONS” AS IF THE FAIRY WILL MAGICALLY AND WISHFULLY RID THEIR TRANSGRESSIONS OF MALPRACTICE.

    BANKERS ARE HAPPY TO PROVIDE ALL THE LOANS FOR GOVERNMENTS AND COMPANIES AND THE PUBLIC, THE FLOODGATES HAVE REMAINED OPEN LONG BEFORE THE COVID PANDEMIC TO PREVENT ANY BREAKDOWN OF THE ECONOMY. YET NO ONE LOOKED AT THE FUNDAMENTAL MALPRACTICES IN FRONT OF THEIR EYES..

    SO SHOULD THINGS GO WRONG, AS THEY ALWAYS HAVE IN THE PAST REPLAYS. ALL WHO TURNED A BLIND EYE TO MALPRACTICES CAN SAY “BUT LOOK, THE PANDEMIC DESTROYED THE ECONOMY NOT US”. OR, "LOOK WE WARNED OF THIS EXUBERANCE" (BUT NOT STOP IT)  OR, "LOOK WE WARNED “LOOK CHINA'S EVERGRANDE AND ITS SECTOR FELL APART (BUT NOT PREVENT THE OVER STRETCHED LOANS BUILD UP IN THESE COMPANIES) AND CAUSED AND SO  A DOMINO EFFECT;  NOT OUR FAULT” OR, “ LOOK IT IS XYZ” IN BIG TROUBLE THROW MORE MONEY AT ITS FAILINGS. REWARD THE FAILURES AND PENALISE THE SUCCESSFUL AND MORE TAXES.

    PROFESSIONALS SEEM TO ALWAYS FORGET THE CONSEQUENCES AND THE DISCIPLINE NECESSARY TO RUN ANY BUSINESS. THESE GO OUT IN TIMES OF A BOOM OR A BULL MARKET. AND THEY FORGET QUICKLY THAT THEY ADVISED GOVERNMENTS, IN VARIOUS WAYS, BECAUSE "THEY KNOW BEST”. AND THEY SPREAD THE GOSPEL OF QE TO ALL CENTRAL BANKS PLUS ADDITIONAL SOLUTIONS”.  MAYBE THAT WILL BE ANOTHER JUSTIFICATION TO USE, “LOOK, ALL COUNTRIES ARE SUFFERING SIMILARLY SO NOT OUR FAULT – OUR THEORIES CANNOT BE WRONG, OH NO, NEVER”.

     SELF INTERESTS GET CARRIED AWAY BEYOND THE NORMAL BOUNDARIES, AND GREED KNOWS NO LIMIT, UNTIL IT BEGINS TO UNRAVEL.

    STILL, THE RESPONSIBLE PARTIES HAVE A CUNNING PLAN --- HAVE A DEBT JUBILEE, I.E. WRITE SOME OF IT OFF, AFTERALL IT HAS BEEN DONE BEFORE – MAKE OTHERS PAY FOR IT ( LOSERS) AND THEY CAN SMUGLY KEEP THEIR ZILLIONS IN PROFIT ALREADY MADE. THEY DO NOT PAY IT BACK. WHAT AN IRONY. LET THE MASSES SUFFER.

   IT IS NOT AS IF ONE SECTOR OF INDUSTRY OR GOVERNMENT THAT IS IN CRITICAL DANGER BUT MOST. THIS IS WHY A MAJOR CALAMITY IN A BIG COMPANY CAN CAUSE A DOMINEO EFFECT. ARTIFICAL PROPS DO NOT SOLVE IT AND ANY SUBSIDIES GIVEN FOR FREE (OR BY TAKE OVER) PUNISHES THE TAXPAYERS WHO DID NOT CAUSE IT BUT WHO HELPS TO FALSELY SUSTAIN THE ECONOMY. GOVERNMENTS ALWAYS FORGET THAT. INSTEAD THEY FOCUS ON “ WE CANNOT DO WITHOUT THE BIG COMPANIES”.

QUESTIONS:

WHY CANNOT BADLY RUN / MANAGED PRIVATE INDUSTRY TAKE THEIR OWN RESPONSIBILITY WITHOUT AIDS OR PROPS?

WHY DOES GOVERNMENT NOT ALLOW, AS A NATURAL ACTION FOR BAD BUSINESSES TO CLOSE DOWN BY THEIR OWN ACCORD AND BANKERS TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY LOSSES?

LET'S PICK UP THE PIECES AFTERWARDS WITHOUT TAKING UP OTHER COMPANIES LIABILITIES?

SUBSIDISE INSTEAD THE UNEMPLOYED UNTIL INDUSTRY CAN PICK ITSELF UP BY ITS OWN BOOTSTRAPS.

    ALL SIDES OF THE EQUATION MATTER otherwise an extreme CONDITION IS CREATED and BECOMES A PROBLEM FOR ALL OF US, ONE WAY OR ANOTHER.

ANY TRUE ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL JUSTICE ANYWHERE?

 

[MongiIG]

11 hours ago, skyreach said:

CENTRAL BANKS INFLATION CONCERNS AND THE NEXT DANGER

    Omicron variant of the corona virus has central bankers think again. Yet this is a transient factor. The focus may go off the primary factors and the longer term cycles and focus on keeping businesses open to do business, with proper protocols in place and used effectively. This article is a plea and an alternative overview viewpoint highlighting  some major issues, as most usually are inwardly focused on their “thing” only.

    Higher commodities costs, higher consumer costs, higher inflation rates and extremely low bank deposit interest rates for the public for a long long time. Then there is the debt mountain getting ever bigger (highest in history) encouraged by the extremely low rates to help government borrow, borrow, borrow cheaply for ever more AS IF THERE IS NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT YET INTEREST PAYMENTS ARE SHOOTING UP AS A PERCENTAGE OF THE TOTAL GOVERNMENT BUDGET.

    All the economic negatives mentioned (& there are others ) are a killer to a balanced and steady economic growth. Inflation is alright in a properly growing economy but we have NOT HAD THAT SINCE AFTER 2007 CRASH AS THE AVERAGE GDP GROWTH HAS BEEN USUALLY LESS THEN THE BOOM TIME PRIOR TO 2007 PERIOD. Currently we are making up for a lost year of production and that has its own headaches.

    The factors of creative accounting , though well known, is not handled as a priority. Many Major companies have not been investing for organic growth but borrowing to purchase share buy backs to artificially manipulate the balance sheet fundamentals. QE, a fancy new coined term to say subsidies for business for free from the government via the central bank (on the whole) . The taxpayer can pay for it, a distribution of costs to all BUT NOT THOSE PROFITS ALREADY MADE AND TAKEN BY THE SAME ENTERPRISES!  SOMETHING IS BOUND TO OVERLOAD THE FINANCIAL SYSTEM AS A RESULT.

    ALL THE TEAMS AND PLAYERS ARE NOT PLAYING BY THE RULES AND THERE IS NO REFEREE TO HANDLE AND ELIMINATE SUCH ADVERSE PRACTICES.  PERHAPS THIS IS AN INDICATOR OF THE MORAL LAPSE, EXTRAORDINARY GREED AND POOR LEADERSHIP. EVERY ONE RELIES ON THE “OFFICIALS” TO TINKER THE “SOLUTIONS” AS IF THE FAIRY WILL MAGICALLY AND WISHFULLY RID THEIR TRANSGRESSIONS OF MALPRACTICE.

    BANKERS ARE HAPPY TO PROVIDE ALL THE LOANS FOR GOVERNMENTS AND COMPANIES AND THE PUBLIC, THE FLOODGATES HAVE REMAINED OPEN LONG BEFORE THE COVID PANDEMIC TO PREVENT ANY BREAKDOWN OF THE ECONOMY. YET NO ONE LOOKED AT THE FUNDAMENTAL MALPRACTICES IN FRONT OF THEIR EYES..

    SO SHOULD THINGS GO WRONG, AS THEY ALWAYS HAVE IN THE PAST REPLAYS. ALL WHO TURNED A BLIND EYE TO MALPRACTICES CAN SAY “BUT LOOK, THE PANDEMIC DESTROYED THE ECONOMY NOT US”. OR, "LOOK WE WARNED OF THIS EXUBERANCE" (BUT NOT STOP IT)  OR, "LOOK WE WARNED “LOOK CHINA'S EVERGRANDE AND ITS SECTOR FELL APART (BUT NOT PREVENT THE OVER STRETCHED LOANS BUILD UP IN THESE COMPANIES) AND CAUSED AND SO  A DOMINO EFFECT;  NOT OUR FAULT” OR, “ LOOK IT IS XYZ” IN BIG TROUBLE THROW MORE MONEY AT ITS FAILINGS. REWARD THE FAILURES AND PENALISE THE SUCCESSFUL AND MORE TAXES.

    PROFESSIONALS SEEM TO ALWAYS FORGET THE CONSEQUENCES AND THE DISCIPLINE NECESSARY TO RUN ANY BUSINESS. THESE GO OUT IN TIMES OF A BOOM OR A BULL MARKET. AND THEY FORGET QUICKLY THAT THEY ADVISED GOVERNMENTS, IN VARIOUS WAYS, BECAUSE "THEY KNOW BEST”. AND THEY SPREAD THE GOSPEL OF QE TO ALL CENTRAL BANKS PLUS ADDITIONAL SOLUTIONS”.  MAYBE THAT WILL BE ANOTHER JUSTIFICATION TO USE, “LOOK, ALL COUNTRIES ARE SUFFERING SIMILARLY SO NOT OUR FAULT – OUR THEORIES CANNOT BE WRONG, OH NO, NEVER”.

     SELF INTERESTS GET CARRIED AWAY BEYOND THE NORMAL BOUNDARIES, AND GREED KNOWS NO LIMIT, UNTIL IT BEGINS TO UNRAVEL.

    STILL, THE RESPONSIBLE PARTIES HAVE A CUNNING PLAN --- HAVE A DEBT JUBILEE, I.E. WRITE SOME OF IT OFF, AFTERALL IT HAS BEEN DONE BEFORE – MAKE OTHERS PAY FOR IT ( LOSERS) AND THEY CAN SMUGLY KEEP THEIR ZILLIONS IN PROFIT ALREADY MADE. THEY DO NOT PAY IT BACK. WHAT AN IRONY. LET THE MASSES SUFFER.

   IT IS NOT AS IF ONE SECTOR OF INDUSTRY OR GOVERNMENT THAT IS IN CRITICAL DANGER BUT MOST. THIS IS WHY A MAJOR CALAMITY IN A BIG COMPANY CAN CAUSE A DOMINEO EFFECT. ARTIFICAL PROPS DO NOT SOLVE IT AND ANY SUBSIDIES GIVEN FOR FREE (OR BY TAKE OVER) PUNISHES THE TAXPAYERS WHO DID NOT CAUSE IT BUT WHO HELPS TO FALSELY SUSTAIN THE ECONOMY. GOVERNMENTS ALWAYS FORGET THAT. INSTEAD THEY FOCUS ON “ WE CANNOT DO WITHOUT THE BIG COMPANIES”.

QUESTIONS:

WHY CANNOT BADLY RUN / MANAGED PRIVATE INDUSTRY TAKE THEIR OWN RESPONSIBILITY WITHOUT AIDS OR PROPS?

WHY DOES GOVERNMENT NOT ALLOW, AS A NATURAL ACTION FOR BAD BUSINESSES TO CLOSE DOWN BY THEIR OWN ACCORD AND BANKERS TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY LOSSES?

LET'S PICK UP THE PIECES AFTERWARDS WITHOUT TAKING UP OTHER COMPANIES LIABILITIES?

SUBSIDISE INSTEAD THE UNEMPLOYED UNTIL INDUSTRY CAN PICK ITSELF UP BY ITS OWN BOOTSTRAPS.

    ALL SIDES OF THE EQUATION MATTER otherwise an extreme CONDITION IS CREATED and BECOMES A PROBLEM FOR ALL OF US, ONE WAY OR ANOTHER.

ANY TRUE ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL JUSTICE ANYWHERE?

 

Hi @skyreach

The Federal Reserve is expected to announce a dramatic policy shift Wednesday that will clear the way for a first interest rate hike next year.

Markets are anticipating the Fed will speed up the wind-down of its bond buying program, changing the end date to March from June.

 

That would free the central bank to start raising interest rates from zero, and Fed officials are expected to release a new forecast showing two to three interest rate hikes in 2022 and another three to four in 2023. Previously, there had been no consensus for a rate hike in 2022, though half of the Fed officials expected at least one.

Full article: CNBC

[MongiIG]

LONDON — European stocks are expected to open flat to higher Wednesday as investor focus turns to the Federal Reserve’s latest monetary policy decision.

The U.K.’s FTSE index is seen opening unchanged at 7,229, Germany’s DAX 44 points higher at 15,527, France’s CAC 40 up 17 points at 6,922 and Italy’s FTSE MIB 93 points higher at 26,652, according to data from IG.

 

Investors are focused on central bank action this week with the U.S. Federal Reserve, the Bank of Japan, the Bank of England and the European Central Bank all due to announce monetary policy decisions.

The Federal Reserve’s two-day policy meeting, where policymakers were expected to discuss speeding up the end of its bond-buying program, concludes on Wednesday.

The central bank will release a statement on Wednesday with quarterly projections for the economy, inflation and interest rates. Chairman Jerome Powell will also hold a press conference.

Investors will be watching closely for commentary around whether the Fed plans to accelerate the end of its bond-buying program. At present, the central bank’s asset purchase program will end in June 2022, but several officials have spoken about ending the purchases sooner.

The latest CNBC Fed Survey showed that investment professionals and economists expect the Fed to wind down its asset purchases by March and begin rate hikes in June.

Full article: CNBC

[MongiIG]

12 hours ago, skyreach said:

CENTRAL BANKS INFLATION CONCERNS AND THE NEXT DANGER

    Omicron variant of the corona virus has central bankers think again. Yet this is a transient factor. The focus may go off the primary factors and the longer term cycles and focus on keeping businesses open to do business, with proper protocols in place and used effectively. This article is a plea and an alternative overview viewpoint highlighting  some major issues, as most usually are inwardly focused on their “thing” only.

    Higher commodities costs, higher consumer costs, higher inflation rates and extremely low bank deposit interest rates for the public for a long long time. Then there is the debt mountain getting ever bigger (highest in history) encouraged by the extremely low rates to help government borrow, borrow, borrow cheaply for ever more AS IF THERE IS NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT YET INTEREST PAYMENTS ARE SHOOTING UP AS A PERCENTAGE OF THE TOTAL GOVERNMENT BUDGET.

    All the economic negatives mentioned (& there are others ) are a killer to a balanced and steady economic growth. Inflation is alright in a properly growing economy but we have NOT HAD THAT SINCE AFTER 2007 CRASH AS THE AVERAGE GDP GROWTH HAS BEEN USUALLY LESS THEN THE BOOM TIME PRIOR TO 2007 PERIOD. Currently we are making up for a lost year of production and that has its own headaches.

    The factors of creative accounting , though well known, is not handled as a priority. Many Major companies have not been investing for organic growth but borrowing to purchase share buy backs to artificially manipulate the balance sheet fundamentals. QE, a fancy new coined term to say subsidies for business for free from the government via the central bank (on the whole) . The taxpayer can pay for it, a distribution of costs to all BUT NOT THOSE PROFITS ALREADY MADE AND TAKEN BY THE SAME ENTERPRISES!  SOMETHING IS BOUND TO OVERLOAD THE FINANCIAL SYSTEM AS A RESULT.

    ALL THE TEAMS AND PLAYERS ARE NOT PLAYING BY THE RULES AND THERE IS NO REFEREE TO HANDLE AND ELIMINATE SUCH ADVERSE PRACTICES.  PERHAPS THIS IS AN INDICATOR OF THE MORAL LAPSE, EXTRAORDINARY GREED AND POOR LEADERSHIP. EVERY ONE RELIES ON THE “OFFICIALS” TO TINKER THE “SOLUTIONS” AS IF THE FAIRY WILL MAGICALLY AND WISHFULLY RID THEIR TRANSGRESSIONS OF MALPRACTICE.

    BANKERS ARE HAPPY TO PROVIDE ALL THE LOANS FOR GOVERNMENTS AND COMPANIES AND THE PUBLIC, THE FLOODGATES HAVE REMAINED OPEN LONG BEFORE THE COVID PANDEMIC TO PREVENT ANY BREAKDOWN OF THE ECONOMY. YET NO ONE LOOKED AT THE FUNDAMENTAL MALPRACTICES IN FRONT OF THEIR EYES..

    SO SHOULD THINGS GO WRONG, AS THEY ALWAYS HAVE IN THE PAST REPLAYS. ALL WHO TURNED A BLIND EYE TO MALPRACTICES CAN SAY “BUT LOOK, THE PANDEMIC DESTROYED THE ECONOMY NOT US”. OR, "LOOK WE WARNED OF THIS EXUBERANCE" (BUT NOT STOP IT)  OR, "LOOK WE WARNED “LOOK CHINA'S EVERGRANDE AND ITS SECTOR FELL APART (BUT NOT PREVENT THE OVER STRETCHED LOANS BUILD UP IN THESE COMPANIES) AND CAUSED AND SO  A DOMINO EFFECT;  NOT OUR FAULT” OR, “ LOOK IT IS XYZ” IN BIG TROUBLE THROW MORE MONEY AT ITS FAILINGS. REWARD THE FAILURES AND PENALISE THE SUCCESSFUL AND MORE TAXES.

    PROFESSIONALS SEEM TO ALWAYS FORGET THE CONSEQUENCES AND THE DISCIPLINE NECESSARY TO RUN ANY BUSINESS. THESE GO OUT IN TIMES OF A BOOM OR A BULL MARKET. AND THEY FORGET QUICKLY THAT THEY ADVISED GOVERNMENTS, IN VARIOUS WAYS, BECAUSE "THEY KNOW BEST”. AND THEY SPREAD THE GOSPEL OF QE TO ALL CENTRAL BANKS PLUS ADDITIONAL SOLUTIONS”.  MAYBE THAT WILL BE ANOTHER JUSTIFICATION TO USE, “LOOK, ALL COUNTRIES ARE SUFFERING SIMILARLY SO NOT OUR FAULT – OUR THEORIES CANNOT BE WRONG, OH NO, NEVER”.

     SELF INTERESTS GET CARRIED AWAY BEYOND THE NORMAL BOUNDARIES, AND GREED KNOWS NO LIMIT, UNTIL IT BEGINS TO UNRAVEL.

    STILL, THE RESPONSIBLE PARTIES HAVE A CUNNING PLAN --- HAVE A DEBT JUBILEE, I.E. WRITE SOME OF IT OFF, AFTERALL IT HAS BEEN DONE BEFORE – MAKE OTHERS PAY FOR IT ( LOSERS) AND THEY CAN SMUGLY KEEP THEIR ZILLIONS IN PROFIT ALREADY MADE. THEY DO NOT PAY IT BACK. WHAT AN IRONY. LET THE MASSES SUFFER.

   IT IS NOT AS IF ONE SECTOR OF INDUSTRY OR GOVERNMENT THAT IS IN CRITICAL DANGER BUT MOST. THIS IS WHY A MAJOR CALAMITY IN A BIG COMPANY CAN CAUSE A DOMINEO EFFECT. ARTIFICAL PROPS DO NOT SOLVE IT AND ANY SUBSIDIES GIVEN FOR FREE (OR BY TAKE OVER) PUNISHES THE TAXPAYERS WHO DID NOT CAUSE IT BUT WHO HELPS TO FALSELY SUSTAIN THE ECONOMY. GOVERNMENTS ALWAYS FORGET THAT. INSTEAD THEY FOCUS ON “ WE CANNOT DO WITHOUT THE BIG COMPANIES”.

QUESTIONS:

WHY CANNOT BADLY RUN / MANAGED PRIVATE INDUSTRY TAKE THEIR OWN RESPONSIBILITY WITHOUT AIDS OR PROPS?

WHY DOES GOVERNMENT NOT ALLOW, AS A NATURAL ACTION FOR BAD BUSINESSES TO CLOSE DOWN BY THEIR OWN ACCORD AND BANKERS TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY LOSSES?

LET'S PICK UP THE PIECES AFTERWARDS WITHOUT TAKING UP OTHER COMPANIES LIABILITIES?

SUBSIDISE INSTEAD THE UNEMPLOYED UNTIL INDUSTRY CAN PICK ITSELF UP BY ITS OWN BOOTSTRAPS.

    ALL SIDES OF THE EQUATION MATTER otherwise an extreme CONDITION IS CREATED and BECOMES A PROBLEM FOR ALL OF US, ONE WAY OR ANOTHER.

ANY TRUE ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL JUSTICE ANYWHERE?

 

UK inflation jumps to 10-year high of 5.1%

Economic IndicatorsDec 15, 2021 

By David Milliken and Andy Bruce

LONDON (Reuters) -British consumer price inflation surged to an annual rate of 5.1% in November, its highest since September 2011, up from 4.2% in October, official figures showed on Wednesday, in news likely to unsettle the Bank of England.

The reading exceeded all forecasts in a Reuters poll of economists, which had on average forecast that inflation would rise to 4.7%.

The International Monetary Fund predicted on Tuesday that British inflation would reach around 5.5% in the second quarter of next year - its highest in 30 years - and warned the Bank of England not to succumb to "inaction bias".

The BoE has said interest rates will almost certainly need to rise to bring down inflation, but held off on a widely expected move last month due to uncertainty about the impact of the end of the government's job furlough programme.

Most economists do not expect the BoE to raise interest rates on Thursday after its December meeting, because of the unknown scale of the threat posed by rapidly rising cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant.

Globally, inflation has risen much faster than economists expected this year, due to higher energy prices and COVID-related supply-chain bottlenecks. In Britain, post-Brexit trade and migration barriers have also caused problems.

 

Wednesday's data showed core CPI, which excludes more volatile energy, food, alcohol and tobacco prices, rose to 4.0% from October's 3.4%, the Office for National Statistics said, above all economists' forecasts and the highest since 1992.

The long-running retail price inflation (RPI) measure - which the ONS says is no longer accurate, but which is still used for inflation-linked government bonds and wage-bargaining - rose to 7.1% from 6.0%, its highest since March 1991.