The Bank of England Inflation Report published on 08 February 2018 showed that CPI remained at 3.0% per annum in January 2018, having risen to 3.1% per annum in November 2017.
At the same time average earnings have started to rise narrowing the gap between earnings and prices. Although the Monetary Policy Committee left rates unchanged at the last meeting in February 2018, the Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, intimated in the subsequent press conference that rates might have to rise more quickly than had been previously forecast in order to meet the Bank’s inflation target.
For more detail please see our February Quarterly Economic Bulletin available on the Client Portal.