Spring forecast: Rachel Reeves to insist government has ‘right economic plan’, as Middle East crisis threatens inflation spike – live updates

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news, including the UK’s spring forecast Rachel Reeves’s plans could be hit by Middle East conflict, say economists The European Central Bank’s chief economist has warned that a prolonged war in the Middle East and a persistent fall in oil and gas supplies from the region could cause a “substantial spike” in inflation. Philip Lane has told the Financial Times said that “directionally, a jump in energy prices puts upward pressure on infla...

By Graeme Wearden