Inflation ‘to fall to 2% in a month’

INFLATION is falling and will hit its 2 per cent target within the next month, economists say.

Figures due out this week will show consumer price inflation remained as high as 2.3 per cent last month.

But Ruth Gregory, of Capital Economics, says falling energy prices mean the figure ‘will be back at 2 per cent by the end of the year’.

Brent crude oil peaked at $85 (£68) a barrel in October and has since plunged to $61.

Average petrol prices have followed the downward trend with unleaded falling from £1.31 a litre in October to £1.23.

Lower inflation eases pressure on the Bank of England to raise interest rates.