How the Bank of England will read into outdated inflation data

Can data be redundant? The Office for National Statistics will this week give the impression that inflation is stable. Economists have predicted the consumer price index inflation print for the year to February to come in at three per cent, like last month, which would have otherwise made for satisfactory reading. But the figures precede the US and Israel’s decision to launch strikes on Iran, and the subsequent closure of a trading passage which is critical for around a fifth of the world’s oil and gas supplies. It wasn’t too long ago that Chancellor Rachel Reeves was talking up the Office for Budget ... (full story)