UK chancellor Jeremy Hunt is set to meet with industry regulators to assess inflationary measures and what controls are in place to tackle companies that may be ‘exploiting’ rising inflation.

Hunt is set to meet with a range of market regulators including the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), Ofcom, Ofgem and Ofwat. According to a source cited by the Guardian, he will ask whether there is a “profiteering problem” in the watchdogs’ respective sectors and, if so, what they are doing to address the issue.

The planned meeting follows the Bank of England’s (BoE) claims that some retailers may be heightening prices or failing to pass on lower costs to consumers as a means of increasing their profit margins.

In a recent letter to BoE governor Andrew Bailey, Hunt stated there was a need to ensure “input costs are passed on to consumers” and determine what further measures can be taken to ease inflation.

In the letter, Hunt noted that continued food price inflation in particular – despite the Office for National Statistics (ONS) recently recording a slight fall in food inflation below record highs to 18.3 per cent – was “placing challenges” on households’ ability to meet their living costs.

“We will continue to engage with the food supply chain on potential measures to ease the pressure on consumers,” he added.

The meeting with the watchdogs follows prime minister Rishi Sunak nixing plans to ask supermarkets to impose a voluntary price cap on basic goods.

The plan garnered backlash from the British Retail Consortium, which said such measures would not bring about any significant changes or provide real support for cost-conscious Brits.

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