Economy

One of Britain’s biggest energy suppliers has warned households to brace for a further rise of more than £900 in their annual bills this year and appealed to the government to enter emergency talks over tackling the “crisis” of soaring electricity and gas costs.ScottishPower said it expected Britain’s energy price cap to go up by about 47 per cent to an average of £2,900 a year per household when it is next adjusted by regulator Ofgem in October. The price cap was increased by 54 per cent to £1,971 a year in April, reflecting sharp increases in wholesale gas and electricity prices that began last year following concerns over gas supplies in Europe. It dictates bills for more than 22mn households not on fixed-price deals and is currently recalculated twice a year.High energy bills are contributing to a wider cost of living crisis in the UK that the Bank of England has warned will push the country into recession this year.

ScottishPower’s chief executive Keith Anderson urged Boris Johnson’s government to begin discussions immediately over how to take the pressure off those households that would be hit hardest by the October rise. Energy groups have warned that 30-40 per cent of households could end up in fuel poverty in the coming winter.Anderson stressed it would take time to design and introduce new support mechanisms.“What’s about to happen to people, you cannot describe in any other way than saying it’s a crisis,” he told the Financial Times. “All of a sudden a whole host of people who have never found themselves in debt and have never struggled to pay their bills are going to get hit by this crisis. Time is running out fast. Let’s get in a room and come up with the solutions now.” The government came under fire at the end of last year for being slow to act against soaring energy prices. Chancellor Rishi Sunak in February announced a £9bn energy support package but one of the key elements — a £200 discount to be applied to all customers’ electricity bills — will not come into force until October and is still in a consultation process on its design.ScottishPower has proposed a “deficit fund” that would knock £1,000 off the energy bills of those most in need. This could include the 8mn-11mn households that will find themselves in fuel poverty, or those in receipt of universal credit.Potentially costing more than £10bn in total, the fund would be recovered via a levy on all households’ energy bills over 10 years under the company’s proposals.Anderson argued that if regulated by Ofgem, the scheme could potentially be financed by the private sector which would be able to borrow the sums required. “Because you’re recovering it through a regulated levy . . . [retail companies] can go and securitise the debt and borrow money against that fund,” Anderson said, although he added the government could also decide to part or fully finance the scheme itself.Ofgem allowed challengers to launch bearing minimal risk, report findsEstimates of October’s expected price cap increase have varied. ScottishPower’s own forecast is subject to change as wholesale prices could decrease in the coming months. However, Anderson warned that forward prices suggested bills would not come down “in the next 12 to 24 months”. Energy suppliers are under investigation by Ofgem after business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said some had been increasing households’ direct debits “beyond what is required”.Anderson said direct debit calculations could vary according to households’ energy usage but insisted the algorithm ScottishPower used was “the same algorithm we used . . . last year and the year before and the year before that”. More

TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan’s airlines are betting on a travel recovery this summer after the COVID-19 doldrums, as many Japanese look to head overseas for the first time in years now that fully vaccinated residents no longer face quarantine curbs on their return.After encouraging demand for flights to Hawaii during a just concluded popular holiday season, Japan Airlines Co Ltd (JAL) and ANA Holdings Inc are hoping the outbound rise will help fill some of the gap from Japan’s ongoing ban on foreign tourist arrivals.Japan on March 1 waived all quarantine and isolation requirements for triple-vaccinated residents returning from the United States and a range of other countries. It also lowered its U.S. infection travel warning from April 1.”The fact that you don’t have to quarantine upon return is a big reason why we chose Hawaii,” said Masahiro Sugiyama, who was travelling with his wife and two children. An upswing in demand for flights to Hawaii, a long-favoured destination for many Japanese, is seen as a bellwether for the overall travel sector. It also shows that the airlines are keen to capitalise on pent up demand – even though higher fuel costs, a weak yen and expensive testing requirements are driving up costs for travellers.”If I don’t go when I can, I don’t know when I’ll have another chance,” said Kaori Sato, a college student about to depart on a week-long trip to Hawaii with her mother and sister. “I’m still worried about corona, but I’ve had three vaccine shots, so I think I’ll be fine.”BOOKINGS JUMPLast year, just 510,000 Japanese went abroad, according to government statistics, down from more than 20 million in 2019.But international bookings before the start of the recent holiday break, known in Japan as ‘Golden Week’, surged: At ANA they jumped more than five-fold and JAL more than four-fold, the airlines said before the start of the holidays.ANA said it aims to bring back more flights to Los Angeles, New York and other destinations popular with Japanese tourists. There are also hopes a ban on inbound tourists could be lifted soon after Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Thursday that border measures would be reviewed next month.JAL plans to resume daily flights to Hawaii from June, while ANA said it will return to using its largest planes, the 520-seater Airbus A380, for some Hawaii routes from July.Meanwhile, customers will have to pay as much as 62,000 yen ($475) per ticket as a fuel surcharge.Hawaii-bound Angie Matsuo said she and her parents also had to pay more than 100,000 yen combined for PCR tests required before leaving, equating to more than $250 each. Another test is needed before returning home.”The testing is a hassle because it takes a lot of money, time, and effort,” Matsuo said. “The depreciation of the yen and various price hikes are also a pain. But I don’t know when I’ll be able to go again, so it’s now or never.”($1 = 130.6200 yen) More

(Reuters) -Australia’s Westpac Banking (NYSE:WBK) Corp on Monday said continued margin pressure from competition in mortgage lending caused its first-half earnings to drop over 12% from a year-ago, but Westpac forecast lower expenses in the second half of the year with its cost reset plan in full swing.Australia’s “Big Four” banks enjoyed a boom in home lending helped by low interest rates and a pandemic-fuelled shift to remote working that buoyed property markets. But their margins have been hit by competition and by borrowers’ moving to fixed-rate loans.Westpac said net interest margin, a key profitability indicator, fell 15 basis points to 1.91% in the first half. It booked an impairment charge of A$139 million ($98.1 million) as it set aside more funds to cover bad debts related to recent floods in Australia and broader global uncertainty.”The first half of 2022 has been challenging for many customers. Floods, the lingering effects of the pandemic and the impact of the war in Ukraine have set many customers back and created uncertainty,” Chief Executive Peter King said.However, the country’s third-largest bank forecast second-half costs to be flat to 2% lower sequentially, a sign that its bold cost restructuring strategy was beginning to pay off.Westpac, which is emerging from a costly turnaround to fix outdated software and convoluted procedures, said it cut more than 4,000 jobs in the first half and expenses fell 27% from the 2021 second half, putting it on track for its annual cost target of A$8 billion by fiscal 2024.Cash earnings fell to A$3.10 billion ($2.19 billion) for the six months ended March 31 from A$3.54 billion reported a year earlier, but beat a Visible Alpha consensus forecast of A$2.83 billion.Westpac declared an interim dividend of 61 Australian cents per share, compared with 58 Australian cents last year.Last week, its peers National Australian Bank and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group forecast that their margins would benefit after the country’s central bank hiked rates and signalled more to come.($1 = 1.4154 Australian dollars) More

The US sought to tighten sanctions on Russia yesterday by blacklisting a swath of financial executives at Gazprombank for the first time, and barring companies from providing Russia with corporate services such as accounting and consulting.A senior Biden administration official said the new US sanctions targeted 27 executives of Gazprombank, Russia’s third-largest lender and a subsidiary of state-owned energy company Gazprom. But the measures did not freeze the company’s assets or prohibit transactions with it since it is the main way Russia sells gas to Europe. “We’re sanctioning some of their top business executives, they’re the people who sit at the top of the organisation, to create a chilling effect . . . we don’t want Gazprombank to be seen as a safe haven,” the senior Biden administration official said.The new sanctions come even as the EU struggled to finalise its latest package of penalties. Diplomats said Hungary continued to hold back progress in Brussels on the EU’s proposed sixth package of sanctions, which will include a phased-in oil embargo aimed at squeezing Moscow’s sources of cash. With Russia preparing for today’s Victory Day celebrations, the G7 and its allies are seeking to harden the economic pressure on President Vladimir Putin’s regime. US president Joe Biden met his G7 counterparts and Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelensky yesterday as part of a co-ordinated show of support for the war-torn country. Happy Monday, and thanks for reading FirstFT Asia. Here’s the rest of the day’s news. — SophiaFive more stories in the news1. China has been ‘unsettled’ by Ukraine war Bill Burns, director of the CIA, said this weekend that Chinese president Xi Jinping is “unsettled” by Russia’s continuing aggression, demonstrating that the friendship between Beijing and Moscow has “limits”. The conflict may be affecting the Chinese leadership’s calculations with respect to Taiwan.2. John Lee chosen as Hong Kong’s next leader Following a campaign that critics labelled as absurd, John Lee has been confirmed as Hong Kong’s next chief executive after Beijing backed his candidacy and no one else ran for election. Residents’ voting power has been steadily disenfranchised, and most political opposition has either fled or is in jail.

John Lee has been confirmed as Hong Kong’s next chief executive © Getty Images

3. Sinn Féin wins historic victory in Northern Ireland A jubilant Sinn Féin clinched a historic victory in Northern Ireland’s elections with its laser focus on the cost of living crisis and promises to get the stop-start executive back to work. The victory cements the nationalist party as the region’s biggest political force for the first time in over a century.4. Xi Jinping warns against ‘any slackening’ of zero-Covid policy China’s president has reaffirmed his commitment to the country’s controversial strategy for controlling the spread of Covid-19, triggering a sell-off in Chinese stock markets. The CSI 300 index of Shanghai- and Shenzhen-listed stocks shed 2 per cent today, while the benchmark Hang Seng index in Hong Kong dropped 3.8 per cent. 5. North-Korea backed “crypto mixer” gets hit with US sanctions The US Treasury has sanctioned a “crypto mixing” service used in a hacking group’s attempt to launder $20.5mn in one of the biggest-ever crypto heists. Friday’s announcement is the latest sign of how financial watchdogs are stepping up efforts to stamp out money laundering through digital currencies.The day aheadPulitzer Prize The 106th annual Pulitzer Prize winners and nominated finalists will be announced today for prizes in journalism, drama, letters and music.Philippines election Polls open today as the nation votes in the country’s presidential election.Russia’s Victory Day A parade will be held in Moscow’s Red Square today to celebrate the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany.FT’s Future of the car summit May 9-12 features Tesla founder Elon Musk, who will be speaking and taking audience questions, along with a host of other industry leaders. Register here.What else we’re reading Shanghai lockdown tests Xi’s loyalties in China’s Communist party Li Qiang, Shanghai’s top official, seemed close to securing a spot on China’s most influential political body as Xi Jinping prepares to secure a third term in November. But weeks of brutal lockdowns in Shanghai have eroded faith in the Communist party’s ability to govern. Many blame Xi — and the future of Li hangs in the balance.Peter Ma, China’s shy insurance tycoon, bursts into the limelight Ping An, the world’s second largest insurance company and the largest investor in HSBC, dropped a bombshell that it would be splitting its Asian and western operations, leading to the largest restructuring in HSBC’s 157-year history. It was also an uncomfortable step into the limelight for 67-year-old Ping An founder Peter Ma, who rarely appears in public.The world needs a 12-step programme for better trade The World Trade Organization is broken, and the first step toward a solution is admitting that there is a problem with the old model of globalisation. The world needs a newer, better, faster way to resolve trade disputes and find a balance between international trade and domestic politics, argues Rana Foroohar.

© Matt Kenyon

Pro-Ukrainian hackers strike back at Russia For more than a decade, Ukraine’s government, financial system and other key infrastructure were pummelled by Russian state-backed hackers. Now, hordes of pro-Ukrainian hackers are matching Russian cyber aggression, leading to an ‘avalanche’ of secret data from state-backed groups and private companies.Networking for a hybrid era As employees return to offices at least part-time, formal work events have resumed, spurring a heady mix of dread and excitement about professional networking. Emma Jacobs explores how to deepen your professional relationships in a hybrid era. Plus: Sign up to Working It, a newsletter which explores workplace trends and the big ideas that are shaping work today. There is also a weekly podcast of the same name.Food & drinkWhy do so few restaurants get their bread right? For starters, cooking and baking are more different than many people realise. There are many factors to consider in bread baking, and the process requires dedicated time, space and money.

A wholegrain sourdough by Little Bread Pedlar More

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – IKEA stores owner Ingka Group has extended the period it will pay around 12,000 staff in Russia by three months, through August, and may continue to pay workers beyond that, its retail manager said in an interview. The world’s biggest furniture brand in early March said it would temporarily close stores and pause sourcing in Russia, citing supply chain disruption and challenging trading conditions due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. At that time, it said all affected staff would be paid, in roubles, at least through May.”We have managed to prolong that to six months,” Ingka’s Retail Manager Tolga Oncu told Reuters. “We keep monitoring, analysing, looking at what’s happening and will make decisions as we go forward.” A flood of Western companies have paused operations in Russia due its invasion of Ukraine and the resulting sanctions against Moscow, and a growing number of businesses have flagged they will exit the country indefinitely.Firms including McDonalds and Renault (EPA:RENA), have said they will continue to pay staff in Russia for the time being. Russia has warned it may nationalise foreign businesses that have shelved operations in the country.IKEA operates through a franchise system with Ingka the main franchisee to Inter IKEA, which is also in charge of supply and in Russia employs 2,500 at three factories. Ingka, also one of the world’s biggest shopping centre owners, has so far kept its 14 malls in Russia, branded “MEGA”, open. Oncu declined to give details on where the money to pay the local wages would come from. “We comply with all the sanctions. We are utilising the assets that we have (in Russia),” he said. Oncu also declined to say whether the furniture retailer was considering exiting Russia altogether. Ingka has 17 stores in Russia and one distribution centre. In its latest fiscal year, Russia was its 10th-biggest market with retail sales of 1.6 billion euros, or 4% of total retail sales.The commitment to extend pay by another three months affects Ingka staff and not Inter IKEA staff, an Ingka spokesperson said. Some employees have been reassigned to work with returns of goods, and store, warehouse and systems maintenance.Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a “special operation.” More

Hello and welcome to the working week.We are starting the next seven days with reminders of how Europe has united and diverged, becoming both more prosperous and more dangerous in the period since the second world war. On the one hand, Monday is the 77th anniversary of the 1950 Schuman declaration, when the then French foreign minister Robert Schuman called on France, Germany and other European countries to pool their coal and steel production as “the first concrete foundation of a European federation”.However, attention is likely to focus instead on Russia’s Victory Day celebrations in Red Square. This started as a commemoration of Soviet success against Nazi aggression but is this year expected to be used by President Vladimir Putin as a demonstration of the motherland’s might in the face of a Ukrainian invasion that has not gone to plan. The question has been whether the destruction of Mariupol — or perhaps neighbouring Moldova — will be presented as proof of the Russian army’s continued might or whether a new, more catastrophic attack is being planned. It seems a thin hope that the only fireworks on Monday will be those at the end of the Moscow military procession.Putin will no doubt be interested in this Friday’s debate in the Swedish parliament about joining Nato. And so should you. Support for doing so in the country is running at more than 50 per cent, although experts wonder whether it will be helpful or not. As this newsletter noted at the beginning of the year, 2022 can be seen as a series of significant elections. This week it is the turn of the Philippines, where, in a “you could not make this up” moment, the son of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos, Ferdinand Jr, leads the race to be president, promising to restore the “golden age” of his late father’s rule.Whatever the result, this is a remarkable turnaround for a family who were pariahs (albeit very rich ones) when Marcos Sr was ousted in 1986. It also shows that the rise of populists is very much still in play around the world today. Reading the analysis this week, I wonder whether the comments that Filipinos are among the world’s biggest users of social media — with all the problems in public discourse Twitter is blamed for — has contributed to the revival of the country’s authoritarians.Elsewhere in the Pacific region, voting kicks off for the Australian federal election — more about that in future weeks. On Tuesday, we have the consequences of an election that has already been run when South Korea’s president-elect Yoon Suk-yeol will officially take office — here’s the FT guide to the new leader of the world’s tenth-largest economy.After local elections in the UK, the legislative agenda for Boris Johnson’s government will be in focus at the state opening of the new parliamentary session, which the Queen plans to lead despite recent concerns about mobility issues, having only missed two in her 70-year reign. The monarch is expected to announce the plan to privatise Channel 4, legislation to make it easier to prevent allies of Putin from laundering money in the UK and changes to the UK’s post-Brexit border arrangements in Northern Ireland. However, she will not be announcing powers for the UK’s new digital regulator to police the big technology companies after that ambitious plan was dropped last week.Cast your vote — your views on this week’s news mix, what you like and don’t like about The Week Ahead — by dropping me a line at [email protected] dataAfter last week’s central bank interest rate decisions, this week we get the economic data to underline why monetary policy is likely to get a lot tighter in coming months. Watch out for the inflation reports from the US, India, China and eurozone countries, plus a first-quarter GDP estimate for the UK. The impact of sanctions on Russia will be laid bare on Friday when the country’s inflation and GDP figures are published.CompaniesThe Covid-19 winners who became losers in the post-lockdown return to normality has been a theme of this earnings season. On Wednesday the Walt Disney Company announces second-quarter figures, posing the question of whether its Disney+ streaming service has managed to extend the strong growth it reported in its first quarter or suffered a Netflix-style meltdown in subscription numbers.The Japanese automotive industry will be on the forecourt in force, with Nissan, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Mazda, Honda and Suzuki all revealing their latest quarterly numbers, in another busy week for earnings. Expect questions about semiconductor supplies and the impact on car production.This also gives me an excuse to plug the FT’s online Future of the Car summit on Tuesday, in which Elon Musk will be beamed on screen to be interviewed by the FT’s US west coast editor Richard Waters. Register by clicking here.Finally, look out for the first-quarter results from Foxconn Technology on Thursday. These will give some indication of the extent of problems in the tech supply chain and whether Covid lockdowns in China will further undermine the situation, hitting consumer electronics manufacturers worldwide.Key economic and company reportsHere is a more complete list of what to expect in terms of company reports and economic data this week.MondayChina, trade balance figuresFrance, balance of trade figuresIndonesia, Q1 GDP and consumer price index (CPI) dataJapan, Bank of Japan releases the minutes of its March policy meeting plus April composite and services purchasing managers’ index (PMI) dataResults: IAC Q1, Infineon Technologies Q2TuesdayGermany, ZEW expectations surveyHungary, April CPI figuresSpain, European Central Bank vice-president Luis de Guindos Jurado speaks at banking industry event organised by IESE Business SchoolUK, Bank of England monetary policy committee member Michael Saunders speaks at an event run by the Resolution Foundation think-tankResults: Bayer Q1, Coinbase Q1, Fox Corporation Q3, Mitsubishi Motors FY, Nintendo FY, Nippon Steel FY, Pirelli Q1, Sony FY, Sumitomo Corporation FYWednesdayChina, April CPI and producer price index (PPI) dataGermany, April CPI dataTP ICAP Q1 trading updateUS, April CPI dataResults: Compass H1, Continental Q1, E.On Q1, ITV Q1, Manulife Financial Corporation Q1, Mediobanca Q1, Panasonic FY, Suzuki Motor Corporation FY, Takeda FY, ThyssenKrupp H1, Toyota FY, TUI Travel H1, Walt Disney Company Q2ThursdayIndia, April CPI dataJapan, trade balance figuresOpec monthly oil market reportUK, Q1 GDP estimate, Recruitment & Employment Confederation-KPMG monthly jobs report plus construction output figuresUS, April PPI dataZurich Insurance Q1 updateResults: 3i FY, Aegon Q1, Allianz Q2, Bouygues Q1, BT Group FY, Commerzbank Q1, Foxconn Technology Q1, Geox Q1, Hargreaves Lansdown Q3, Nissan Motor FY, NTT FY, RWE Q1, Siemens Q2, Softbank FYFridayEU, March industrial production figuresFrance, April CPI figuresRussia, Q1 GDP and April CPI dataResults: Banca Generali Q1, Deutsche Telekom Q1, Honda Motor Company FY, Mazda Motor Corporation FY, Sage H1, Toshiba FYWorld eventsFinally, here is a rundown of other events and milestones this week. MondayAustralia, early voting centres open for 2022 federal electionsEurope Day, commemorating the Schuman declaration in 1950. French president Emmanuel Macron will give a speech to mark the occasion in Strasbourg at an EU conference on the future of Europe.Ireland, international aviation finance conference in DublinPhilippines, presidential electionRussia, Victory Day marked with a second world war anniversary parade in Moscow’s Red SquareUS, Pulitzer Prize winners and nominated finalists announcedTuesdayEU, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development holds its 31st annual meeting in Marrakesh, MoroccoSouth Korea, Yoon Suk-yeol installed as the country’s new presidentUK, state opening of parliamentUS, President Joe Biden hosts Italian prime minister Mario Draghi at the White HouseThe Bob Dylan Center, exploring the life of the pioneering American musical artist opens to the public in TulsaWednesdayIndia, the annual Thrissur Pooram Elephant Festival takes placeSpain, the European gas regulatory conference, also known as the Madrid Forum begins in the Spanish capitalUK, the All-Energy Exhibition and Conference, bringing together participants in the renewable energy sector, opens in GlasgowThursdayG7 foreign ministers meet in Weissenhaus, Schleswig-Holstein, GermanyUK, A Gallop through History, an equestrian display involving more than 500 horses and 1,000 performers, takes place in Windsor as part of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrationsUS hosts a global summit to discuss how to end the Covid crisis, including current G7 president Germany, G20 president Indonesia, African Union chair Senegal and the chair of the Caricom Caribbean grouping BelizeUS hosts a summit for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in WashingtonFridaySwedish parliament is expected to debate security policy and joining NatoSaturdayInternational Dylan Thomas Day, held on the day that Under Milkwood was first read on stage at The Poetry Centre in New York in 1953The 66th Eurovision Song Contest final, one of the world’s largest televised events is hosted by last year’s winner Italy at Turin’s PalaOlimpico ArenaAustria, opening night for the 42nd Oberammergau Passion Play, a production staged every 10 years but delayed by the Covid pandemic restrictionsGermany, informal meeting of Nato foreign ministers begins in BerlinIceland, municipal electionsJapan, Sanja Matsuri summer festival with parades and floatsUK, Chelsea and Liverpool football clubs play at London’s Wembley Stadium for the FA Cup final, the world’s oldest associated football cup competitionSundayTotal Lunar Eclipse (Blood Moon) visible from across North and South America, plus parts of Europe and AfricaIsrael, Palestinians mark the Nakba, or Catastrophe, when they were forced from their villages or fled in the war that surrounded Israel’s creation in 1948US, Billboard Music Awards held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas More

UK households struggling with surging energy costs are being tempted into “buy now, pay later” financing schemes to spread out payments on their electricity and gas bills as the cost of living crisis deepens, according to consumer groups.Energy and debt advice groups have warned the “really worrying” development is a sign that individuals and families are having to resort to increasingly “desperate” measures to cover basic expenses. Energy Support and Advice UK, which runs a Facebook-based advice service for consumers worried about their bills, this week issued a warning on its site to treat “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) offers to help with rising energy costs with “extreme caution” after detecting an increasing number of posts about such financing arrangements.Gemma Hatvani, founder and chief executive of Energy Support and Advice UK, warned that some households were bypassing their suppliers and being tempted into BNPL arrangements even though they were “just delaying the inevitable”. “It is really worrying,” Hatvani said. “It’s going to cause massive problems.”Buy now, pay later company Zilch is offering households the option to pay towards energy bills in four instalments over six weeks at zero interest.Zilch, which earlier this year attracted criticism for promoting its services to buy food and takeaways, insisted it offered consumers the opportunity to manage their energy costs “in a better way” than credit cards, which are used by millions to pay for electricity and gas bills and attract high interest rates. “Anyone who falls behind on repayments is immediately stopped from borrowing any more and provided with contacts for independent debt advice charities,” the company said. “Zilch has never charged a customer a late fee and never had to use a debt collection agency since inception.”It added that customers who experienced cash-flow difficulties could choose to “snooze payments”.But debt and energy advice groups warned that consumers were better off approaching their energy supplier to negotiate repayments. Matthew Upton, director of policy at Citizens Advice, a charity, said borrowing through BNPL “can be like quicksand — easy to slip into and very difficult to get out of”.Richard Lane, director of external affairs at debt charity StepChange, said: “Using credit to pay for essentials is a big red flag for us as a debt charity that indicates that someone is in problem debt, so it’s an especially worrying development to see buy now, pay later services used to pay for energy bills.”Adam Scorer, chief executive of fuel poverty charity National Energy Action, said the development was “another sign of how desperate things have become”.The UK government is coming under increasing pressure over its response to the energy price surge, which is fuelling a wider cost of living crisis. Britain’s energy price cap, which dictates bills for 22mn households, rose 54 per cent at the start of April to just under £2,000 a year on average and is forecast to increase further when it is next reviewed by the energy regulator Ofgem in October.Chancellor Rishi Sunak earlier this year unveiled a £9bn package to help meet rising energy costs, including a £200 discount to be applied to all households’ bills in October and then repaid in £40 instalments over a period of five years from 2023.But critics have pointed out that the £200 will probably be wiped out by the expected increase in October’s energy price cap.“The UK government’s response does not provide enough support for those who are hardest hit by the energy crisis, at best only addressing half of the April [price cap] rise,” Scorer added. More