London - The annual inflation rate in UK climbed to 7.0% in March from 6.2% in February, its highest since March 1992, pressure mounting on the government to ease the cost-of-living squeeze.

Prices are rising faster than wages, the fastest rise since 30 years.

The month-on-month rise was the highest for the time of year since the Office for National Statistics' records began in 1988.

Households are facing the biggest cost-of-living squeeze since records began in the 1950s, according to Britain's budget forecasters, and the inflation overshoot is further bad news for the government too.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his finance minister Rishi Sunak were fined by police on Tuesday for attending a June 2020 birthday party for Johnson at his Downing Street office at a time of COVID-19 restrictions, leading to calls from political opponents for them to resign.

Sunak - previously seen as a leading candidate to succeed Johnson as prime minister - has seen his popularity slide after a budget statement in March, which the public judged did too little to ease cost-of-living pressures, and recent revelations of his wife's tax avoidance.

British inflation has seen an unprecedented rise over the past year, following a similar pattern to most other advanced economies as energy prices surged and pandemic supply-chain difficulties persisted.

The Bank of England forecasts economic growth will slow sharply over the course of this year as cost-of-living pressures mount.
-Reuters/BBC