LONDON, May 22 — Britain’s consumer price inflation fell by less-than-expected in April, raising fresh doubt about the Bank of England’s plans to cut interest rates in the coming months which would give a boost to embattled Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

British consumer prices rose by an annual 2.3 per cent, down from a 3.2 per cent increase in March and its lowest since July 2021 when it stood at 2.0 per cent, the Office for National Statistics said.

The BoE — which has an inflation target of 2 per cent — and economists polled by Reuters had forecast a bigger drop to 2.1 per cent.

Services inflation, closely watched by the BoE as a gauge of domestically generated price pressure, also came in stronger than expected at 5.9 per cent. The BoE’s forecasts and the Reuters poll had pointed to a reading of 5.5 per cent.

Sterling rose after the data. — Reuters