the uk government wednesday outlined a series of measures including a cut in fuel taxes to help households that are struggling to pay their bills as surging energy costs pushed the annual rate of inflation to a 30year high as in the us inflation has surged since early 2021 largely driven by rising energy prices with food prices adding to the pressure however wage rises have not kept pace leaving british households facing a reduction in their real incomes the uks statistics agency wednesday said consumer prices were 62 higher in february than a year earlier the fastest annual rise since 1992 but with russias invasion of ukraine pushing energy prices ever higher the bank of england last week said it expects the inflation rate to rise to around 8 in the three months through june in february the government announced 9 billion pounds 1194 billion in help for households that face difficulties paying their bills and in its twiceyearly budget statement it offered additional help including what it said was the largest ever cut in taxes on automobile fuel were doing everything we can to help people prime minister boris johnson told lawmakers in his statement uk treasury chief rishi sunak also set out an increase in the income threshold at which workers start to pay tax by gbp3000 to gbp12570 a move he said would lower tax bills for 30 million people in addition he doubled funding for households facing the greatest pressure from rising energy bills to gbp1 billion citing the impact of russias invasion on living costs and confidence the uks office for budget responsibility the official budget watchdog lowered its economic growth forecast for this year to 38 from 6 it also raised its forecast for the average rate of inflation this year to 74 from 4 however mr sunak will push ahead with a previously announced tax rise intended to pay for elderly care and also declined to act on calls to impose a windfall tax on the large profits being made by energy businesses