UK's Sunak tries to ease cost-of-living hit with tax cuts

Britons still face biggest cost-of-living squeeze on record; inflation forecast to reach nearly 9% in late 2022

British finance minister Rishi Sunak cut fuel duty and softened some of a looming payroll tax increase on Wednesday as he sought to alleviate a severe cost-of-living squeeze against the backdrop of slowing economic growth.

But with inflation set to hit a 40-year high of nearly 9% later this year, government forecasters said Britons faced the biggest hit to their living standards since records began in the late 1950s - even after Sunak's measures.

Announcing a half-yearly budget update overshadowed by the conflict in Ukraine, Sunak set out plans to inject about 17.6 billion pounds ($23.2 billion) into the economy in the