The United States has now been dealing with a persistent rise in energy prices. Earlier, electricity bills used to go up and down in sync with stock market prices of oil and gas. Today, they are solely on the rise.
Every fifth American citizen is currently experiencing financial hardship due to high gas and gasoline prices. While the White House and a half of the US population blame Russian President Vladimir Putin for the ongoing challenges, the other half, led by former US President Donald Trump, holds Biden responsible for skyrocketing gasoline prices. Such accusations actually make sense as fuel prices started to grow long before the Ukrainian crisis. The rise is mainly associated with the current energy policy of the US administration. Donald Trump claims that when he was president, the cost of a gallon of gasoline (3.785 liters) was less than $2. Under Biden’s presidency, it has already soared above $4, he asserted. Long before, the US was believed to be energy independent and could surpass Russia and Saudi Arabia in terms of output volumes in just a year.
In March, US inflation surged to 8.5% from 7.9% in February, the record unseen since December 1981. Rising energy costs are seen as the main driving force for accelerating consumer prices. Eventually, the country saw an increase in transportation costs for delivery of components as well as housing prices that make up about a third of the consumer price index. This trend is unlikely to change any time soon.
Economists expect the US Federal Reserve to announce a rate hike at the next meeting. Meanwhile, consumer and business loans are projected to soar.
