How does the price of oil impact your bank balance?
Household budgets are being squeezed right now over fuel, shopping and energy bills. Fuel prices in the UK have hit record highs.
Energy bills are forecast to see the biggest surge in four years in January, and the Bank of England has warned that interest rates could increase in November – again.
It’s another example of how foreign conflict – like Yemen, Iran and in Ukraine – is pushing up prices in the UK.
So, in this episode of the breakdown, we speak to Dr Sugandha Srivastav, Lecturer in Environmental Economics at the University of Oxford, to look at the chain reaction being caused by conflict thousands of miles away.
We explore why prices shoot up so quickly, but seem to take much longer to come down, and whether there is anything the UK can actually do to protect itself from the next ‘oil shock’.
Presenter: Anja Popp
Producer: Suzannah Rogerson
Series Producer: Joseph Keith