The British Chambers of Commerce has warned that the number of businesses planning to raise prices in the coming months has jumped sharply as increases in the UK Budget in tax and wage costs caused confidence to "slump".
The lobby group's survey of almost 5,000 businesses found that about 55 per cent of them said they were planning to increase prices in the coming three months, up from 39 per cent in the third quarter.
The expected price rises will fuel concerns that Budget measures will underpin the UK's resilient inflation.
The UK government has come under heavy fire from businesses since the Budget, as bosses bemoan higher payments for employers' national insurance, as well as increases in the national living wage.
Subdued confidence has coincided with weak GDP readings, as the Bank of England estimates the economy failed to grow in the final quarter of 2024 despite a strong start to the year.
The proportion of companies planning to increase prices was equal to levels last seen at the beginning of 2023, when official inflation was still more than 10 per cent.
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