Rishi Sunak risks missing target to halve inflation, NIESR warns

Leading thinktank sounds alarm over cost of living crisis with poorest £4,000 worse off in 2023 than before Covid pandemic

Rishi Sunak is at risk of missing his flagship target to halve inflation this year, one of Britain’s leading economic forecasters has warned, as households are left thousands of pounds worse off amid the cost of living crisis.

Sounding the alarm over the hit to living standards, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research said the soaring price of food and other basic essentials meant inflation was on track to remain persistently high for the rest of this year.