Inflation hits 9.1, highest since March 1982
UK has highest inflation rate out of G7
Food price inflation hits highest since 2009
Inflation to top 11 later this year, BoE predicts

LONDON, June 22 Reuters Soaring food prices pushed British consumer price inflation to a 40year high of 9.1 last month, the highest rate out of the Group of Seven countries and underlining the severity of the costofliving crunch.

The reading, up from 9.0 in April, matched the consensus of a Reuters poll of economists. Historical records from the Office for National Statistics show May39;s inflation was the highest since March 1982 and worse is likely to come.

Sterling, one of the worst performing currencies against the U.S. dollar this year, fell below 1.22, down 0.6 on the day.

Some investors judge Britain to be at risk of both persistently high inflation and recession, reflecting its large imported energy bill and continuous Brexit troubles which could further hurt trade ties with the European Union.

With the economic outlook so unclear, no one knows how high inflation could go, and how long it will continue for making fiscal and monetary policy judgements particularly tough, said Jack Leslie, senior economist at the Resolution Foundation think tank.

Earlier on Wednesday the Resolution Foundation said the costofliving hit for households had been compounded by Brexit, which had made Britain a more closed economy, with damaging longterm implications for productivity and wages….