global supply chains, fix those inflationary pressures, fix pressures in labor markets, and do what we can to help people through tough times. i think it will get better. i think that inflation will start to abate. but right now, we ve got to use the fiscal firepower we have in the uk, particularly focused on helping people with the cost of energy. we re using the cash we have to tide people through. 1200 pounds for 8 million of the most vulnerable families. is there realistically anything serious that western countries can do to bring down inflation and energy costs as long as the war in ukraine, as long as russia keeps attacking continues? i think opec plays a role. i think that there was an opportunity for other sources of supply to come forward. i think that, you know, if there were to be the taps were to be turned on by some of our other partners aren t the world, that would unquestionably help. in the meantime, what we have to
for the folks at home wondering why am i paying so much, what do you tell people? i think you can connect the dots right back to the invasion of russia s invasion of ukraine. and then sanctions. the u.s. put sanctions on russia s oil and then the european union a few weeks ago, put sanctions on russian oil. so you re taking that oil out of the market and it takes time for supplies from other parts of the world to kind of kick in and fill the void. in the interim you have the imbalance between supply and demand in higher places. at this point i think the sanctions are in, i don t think there are any other countries with sanctions, i expect supplies to pick up because these energy companies can make a lot of money i think they ll produce more. the saudis seem to be suggesting they ll produce more. so i do expect prices to begin to abate. but it s not i don t think these prices are going to come
months ago, there were good reasons to hope that the laws of supply and demand would start to operate and these problems would begin to abate, these problems would begin to abate, the world responded for instance to the world responded for instance to the shortage of lorry drivers by hiring more, paying them better and giving better conditions. that progress was brutally interrupted on the 24th of february when putin decided on his disastrous and an revoked war in ukraine. world markets have responded with a significant spike in prices, partly driven by sanctions, partly by the elevated risk and premium in the yellow baited risk and increasing what businesses have to charge to compensate for raised global levels of uncertainty. the price of oil and gas looks likely to remain high for a while to come, and the same goes for grain, feed and fertiliser. i
massively aggressive in the sense that it went overwhelmingly to the most vulnerable households. it will do the same in the after shocks. we will get the right balance between spending what we can afford now, and making sure there is a healthy economy to look forward to when the pressure abate. and while some support is of course going to universal, the bulk of it will be targeted at those who need it most. i think that approach is right and supported by the vast majority of people in this country. the second reality, is that when you face inflationary pressure, you cannot just spend your way out of it. on the contrary, you have to be careful not to flood tattooing to add to inflationary pressure. we are constrained, notjust by the inflationary pressure. we are constrained, not just by the fiscal position, the risk of borrowing too much, but by the risks that we would fan the flames over price increases. which brings us to the third
report all around. why aren t wages keeping up with inflation if it s such a hot market for employees right now? well, i think the surge in inflation is due to a number of shocks to the economy. so the pandemic and the effect on global supply chains, you can see that in vehicle prices and lots of other products, and the russian invasion of ukraine, which has caused oil prices to go skyward. we re paying record prices at the gasoline pump. diesel prices are up and that s driving up food costs. you see a surge in inflation due to the shocks in the economy. workers are getting some compensation for that, but not all of it. the thinking is, and i think it s right, as these shocks abate, as the pandemic winds down, as the worst of the fallout from the russian invasion fades behind us, the inflation numbers will fall below the rate of wage growth. so we were talking about real wage growth, the difference between actual wages and inflation, that s neg.