Commenting on the news that CPI inflation rose from 6.2% to 7% in March, Kitty Ussher, Chief Economist at the Institute of Directors, said:

“Inflation in March has come in a little higher than expected and, with household fuel bills due to rise further in April, will not fall back any time soon.

“The principal component of the increase in the month to March was the increase in fuel costs.

“However the data also shows a significant increase in prices in the hospitality sector and that this in turn was driven by rises in the price of alcoholic drinks served in restaurants, cafés and pubs.

“It seems that when people re-started their social lives as restrictions ended in March, the places they visited were able to pass on their own higher costs to their returning customers.”