British Inflation Slides as Expected

Britain’s Consumer  Price  Index dropped to 3.4%, as expected. A small surprise was seen in the Retail Price Index, which hit 3.7%, higher than expected.

GBP/USD trades around 1.5860, very marginally higher than before the release.

The consumer price index was expected to rise at an annual level of 3.4%, weaker than last month’s 3.6%. RPI was expected to slide from 3.9% to 3.4% and Core CPI from 2.6% to 2.4%.

In any case, the figures are the lowest since November 2010.

The Bank of England’s QE program stands at 325 billion pounds. Two MPC members wanted it to rise to 350 billion in the meeting in February. Currently, there are signs that these expansions will stop, and even that a rate hike might be seen later in the year.

Meeting minutes will be released later in the week. Also of note are retail sales and the annual budget release.

GBP/USD was trading between 1.5840 and 1.59 in the hours before the release and was trading in a choppy manner. For more on the pair, see the British pound forecast.