HARLOW residents face a Black Thursday today with energy bills and mortgage rates set to soar as inflation heads for a 30-year high while Rishi Sunak finally unveiled a £9billion cost-of-living crisis package but admitted it will hardly make a dent in the pain for families reports the Daily Mail.

The Chancellor announced new help in the Commons minutes after it was revealed the energy price cap is going up 54 per cent for millions of people in April, meaning typical costs will rise £693 to £1,971. 

And as he spoke, the Bank of England pushed interest rates to 0.5 per cent to control rampant inflation, which it now believes will reach 7.25 per cent in April and act like a lead weight on the economy, as well as pushing up unemployment.

Mr Sunak said A-D band homes will get £150 council tax rebates, while £200 government-backed discounts will help temporarily keep electricity bills lower for everyone – but must be repaid over five years.

There will also be a £150million ‘discretionary fund’ for local authorities to distribute to worse-off families. 

But Mr Sunak conceded it would be ‘wrong and dishonest’ to claim that he can take away all the pain, pointing to soaring global gas costs. 

He said the ‘vast majority’ of households would see a £350 benefit – but that is less than half the average energy cap increase. 

Without Government action, this could be incredibly tough for millions of hardworking families. So the Government is going to step in to directly help people manage those extra costs,’ Mr Sunak said. 

The policy has been delayed by weeks of internal wrangling with Boris Johnson and the Cabinet, after many ministers pushed for the £12billion national insurance raid to be delayed or axed.

Mr Sunak said: ‘We are delivering that support in three different ways. First we will spread the worst of the extra costs of this year’s energy price shock over time. This year all domestic electricity customers will receive an up front discount on their bills worth £200.

‘Energy suppliers will apply the discount on people’s bills from October with the Government meeting the cost in full, that discount will automatically be repaid from people’s bills in equal £40 instalments over the next five years.’