Rishi Sunak to hold major Downing Street press conference today

John Dunne @jhdunne3 February 2022
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Rishi Sunak will hold a press conference on Thursday when he is expected to make a major announcement on how the government will help people tackle soaring heating bills.

The Chancellor will make a television address from Downing Street hours after the regulator is expected to lift the energy price cap which will mean they can pass more of their costs onto customers.

He is expected to unveil financial support for struggling families.

One idea being considered in the Treasury is an energy bills rebate to help the poorest households.

Energy watchdog Ofgem is preparing to raise the price cap from £1,277 to £2,000 to stop more suppliers folding as global gas costs shoot up.

The regulator will reveal the final figure at around 11am tomorrow.

The energy price cap limits how much suppliers can charge for default tariffs to protect customers from sky-high bills.

It is based on the price of wholesale energy and supplier costs which have soared in recent months, meaning consumers are facing huge gas and electricity bills.

When the price cap was last reviewed in October 2021 it protected 11 million households. That number has now doubled to 22 million.

In April National Insurance rises will kick-in prompting a political row over whether workers can afford to pay the increase.

The Bank of England is expected to announce an interest rate rate rise tomorrow, which would increase interest rates on mortgages for homeowners.

Higher council tax bills are also planned for 2022 with households facing paying out hundreds of pounds extra a year.

Meanwhile inflation rates are rising towards six per cent, the highest rate for more than a decade.

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