Shoppers walk along a high street in Rochester, England, on Tuesday, July 16, 2024.
Chris Ratcliffe | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Data released by the Office for National Statistics on Wednesday showed that Britain’s inflation rate rose to 2.2% in July, slightly lower than expected.
Economists polled by Reuters had expected overall CPI to be 2.3%.
By comparison, June’s reading was 2%, unchanged from the previous month and in line with the Bank of England’s target rate.
The data follows the Bank of England’s announcement earlier this month First interest rate cut in more than four yearsraising the main bank interest rate to 5%. Since August 2023, the index has held at a 16-year high of 5.25%.
The Bank of England said in a statement monetary policy reportAlso released at the beginning of the month, CPI is expected to rise again in the second half of 2024.
Uncertainty remains over when the central bank will cut interest rates again and whether it will do so again this year. The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee will hold three more meetings in 2024.
Data from the London Stock Exchange showed that before the release of inflation data on Wednesday, the market expected that the probability of the Bank of England keeping interest rates unchanged in September was about 64%, and the probability of cutting interest rates again in November was about 79%.
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