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Londra Gazete, 09 June 2022 LondraGazete.com/English 7

Petrol prices hit new record

high with ‘worst is yet to come’

PETROL prices have climbed period. The RAC warned that “Sadly, we expect to see the aver-
to a new high of 178.5p a litre as “worse is still to come” because age price of petrol break through
drivers associations warned that of the rising costs of oil due to the 180p mark this week, with
the “worst is yet to come”. the war in Ukraine. “With oil now diesel moving further towards
The price of petrol increased by above 120 US dollars a barrel and 190p. “More radical government
Shoppers rein in spending as 0.6p in just 24 hours on Tuesday sterling still at 1.2 US dollars, intervention is urgently needed,
morning, and the price of diesel worse is still to come,” RAC fuel whether that’s in the form of a
incomes squeezed also soared to 185.2p a litre. spokesperson Simon Williams further reduction in fuel duty or
a VAT cut.
Drivers were warned that said.
SHOPPERS are spending less holidays and summer social occa- “frightening” petrol prices would
than they were a year ago, as the ris- sions, including the Jubilee. hit 180p per litre this week, with
ing cost of living squeezes incomes, But consumers were not buying the RAC calling on the govern-
according to the body representing bigger ticket items, such as furniture ment to intervene at the pumps
retailers. and electronics, the BRC said, as it and help lower costs for families.
Sales, in-store and online, fell for published its latest monthly data, They said that the soaring pric-
the second month in a row in May, which it collects from the UK's medi- es are “fast becoming a national
the British Retail Consortium (BRC) um and larger retailers. crisis” and that the worst is yet to
said. With inflation running at historic come.
Sales rose sharply last year after highs, what people are buying is cost- They added that “radical gov-
pandemic restrictions eased, but that ing them more. So a small drop in to- ernment intervention” is needed
"spending bubble" has now burst, the tal sales masks a much larger drop in as figures from data firm Exper-
BRC's Helen Dickinson said. the volume of goods sold, once infla- ian Catalist showed petrol prices
Total retail sales in May declined tion is accounted for, the BRC added. soared by nearly 6p per litre at
by 1.1% compared to May 2021. "It is clear the post-pandemic UK forecourts over the half-term
That was a sharper slowdown than spending bubble has burst, with re- school holiday.
in April, when BRC figures showed a tailers facing tougher trading condi- The average cost of a litre of
fall of 0.3% compared to April 2021. tions, falling consumer confidence, petrol reached 177.9p on Sunday,
Sales of clothing, footwear and ac- and soaring inflation impacting con- up from 172.1p on 27 May.
cessories, including in fashion and sumers' spending power," said Ms Diesel prices rose from 182.7p
beauty, rose, as people prepared for Dickinson, the BRC's chief executive. per litre to 185p over the same