Investment bank Citigroup has warned that inflation is “entering the stratosphere”, adding to the pressure on households already facing a cost-of-living crisis. It said the Bank of England may be forced to raise interest rates from the current level of 1.75% to as much as 7% to stop price increases from being embedded. In other developments: • Natural gas prices rose 37 percent yesterday after Russia announced it would shut down a critical pipeline to Europe for three days for maintenance. • The buyers are already there
