"The Bank of England is hoping that it [inflation] is going to fall to 2% by the end of the year"
- Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit
U.K. inflation eased to 3.4 per cent in February from 3.6 per cent in January, said the Office for National Statistics on Tuesday. The Bank of England's target for inflation is 2 per cent.
"The Bank of England is hoping that it's going to fall to 2% by the end of the year," said Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit.
"The fact it's been a little bit sticker than we hoped this month really casts further doubt on the Bank's projection."
"So this might be another case of the Bank being a little bit too optimistic of where inflation's going to go."
Others were less concerned.
"We thought the risks were that it would be a bit above the consensus, but in the scheme of things it's pretty much in line," said Ross Walker, RBS economist.
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