Britain's high inflation rate has led the Bank of England to raise borrowing costs 14 times in a row since December 2021.

Consumer prices in the country of 241 million people rose 27.4% in August.

Price increases affected everyone but poorer people were hit the hardest because they had to spend more on food and fuel, making it difficult to save money and pay for essentials including health care and education.

The duty imposed by the world's biggest exporter of onions will help New Delhi dampen local prices ahead of key state elections later this year but will force Asian buyers to shell out more.

The Philippines remains vulnerable to global price shocks because it buys a sizeable portion of its rice overseas, and relies on imports for most of its fuel requirements.

Although Asian stock markets advanced as easing inflation data fuelled hopes that central banks could be nearing the end of their interest rate hiking cycle, European stocks ended mostly lower.

But critics of the royals say the monarchy costs far more than the annual Sovereign Grant report suggests.

Non-perishable foods and transport costs climbed more than 50% over May 2022, while average inflation for the past 12 months was 29.16%.

Salahuddin Ayub says inflation for food outside the home has dropped from 9.6% to 9.3% since the initiative was introduced in January.

Finance minister Grant Robertson announced billions towards rebuilding infrastructure following severe weather events at the start of the year and towards helping those struggling with increased living costs.

The IMF has warned that a major new flare-up of banking system turmoil could slam global growth back to 1%, throwing many economies into recession and putting major stresses on emerging market economies.

Portugal is one of Western Europe's poorest countries, with government data showing more than 50% of workers earned less than €1,000 per month last year.