UK Inflation Remains Stable At 3%
13 Februar 2018 - 07:28AM
RTTF2
UK inflation remained stable in January as downward pressure
from auto fuel and food prices was offset by upward effect from
recreational and cultural goods.
Inflation came in at 3 percent in January, the same rate as seen
in December, the Office for National Statistics reported Tuesday.
Inflation was forecast to slow to 2.9 percent.
However, core inflation that excludes energy, food, alcoholic
beverages and tobacco, accelerated to 2.7 percent from 2.5 percent
in December, which was also above the expected 2.6 percent.
The Bank of England last week said the monetary policy would
need to be tightened somewhat earlier and by a somewhat greater
degree than anticipated.
The central bank forecast inflation to remain close to 3 percent
in the first quarter. Nonetheless, it is expected to slow as the
impact of sharp fall in the pound drops out of annual
comparison.
Falling inflation will pave the way for a bit of a pick-up in
growth this year, allowing the BoE to hike interest rates three
times in 2018, more than markets expect, Paul Hollingsworth, an
economist at Capital Economics, said.
Inflation, including owner occupiers' housing costs, held steady
in January, at 2.7 percent.
On a monthly basis, overall consumer prices fell 0.5 percent
compared to expectations of 0.6 percent drop.
In a separate communique, the ONS said output prices grew at the
slowest pace in more than a year in January.
Output price inflation eased to 2.8 percent in January, the
weakest since November 2016, from 3.3 percent a month ago. The rate
was expected to fall moderately to 3 percent.
Likewise, input price inflation slowed to 4.7 percent from 5.4
percent in the previous month. This was the slowest rise since July
2016. Prices were forecast to gain 4.1 percent.
Month-on-month, output prices edged up 0.1 percent and input
prices climbed 0.7 percent.
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