Supermarket groups Asda and Morrisons have announced efforts to help struggling shoppers during the cost of living crisis.

Many people in Britain are facing an increase in energy bills, council tax and the effects of a national insurance tax rise – as well as inflation hitting a 30-year-high of 7% earlier this month.

Asda said it will invest more than £73m to keep the prices of more than 100 essential items low until the end of the year.

Morrisons said it has reduced prices on more than 500 products and introduced new and improved multi-save deals.

Asda said prices on affected items would come down by an average of 12%, while Morrisons said its reductions would average 13%.

It comes after Asda’s Pulse Of The Nation survey found that nine out of every 10 consumers are worried about inflationary pressure, and 87% are worried that grocery prices will increase this year.

The supermarket chain’s Income Tracker also found that the nation’s lowest-income families had 74% less disposable income in March compared to the same time last year.

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Asda also announced a pay rise, increasing its hourly rate to £10.10 from July.

Mohsin Issa, co-owner of Asda, said: “We know that household budgets are being squeezed by an increasing cost of living and we are committed to doing everything we can to support our customers, colleagues and communities in these exceptionally tough times.”

David Potts, chief executive at Morrisons, said: “We know that our customers are under real financial pressure at the moment and we want to play our part in helping them when it comes to the cost of grocery shopping.

“These price cuts will have a noticeable and long term impact on our customers’ budgets and demonstrate our commitment to offering them the best possible value.”

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