BoE Deputy Governor Jon Cunliffe said in a speech today that the current overshoot in inflation, headline CPI at 2.4%, is “entirely due to imported inflationary pressure.”. That has come “primarily from the post referendum depreciation in sterling plus some more recent pressure from the increase in oil prices.” But the inflationary pressure form Sterling is “already passed its peak”.
The key question now is “how much inflation is domestic economic pressures likely to generate over the next couple of years”. Cunliffe noted that “domestic inflation pressures, while strengthening a little are not yet established at levels consistent with inflation at target”. Pay growth has established itself in the range of 2.5-3.0%. But “the latest readings do not signal strongly that pay growth will make the next step to establish itself firmly in 3% territory in line with the May forecast”.
And there remains a case for a little ‘stodginess’ yet in the medium term. Though, he also emphasized that “such an approach is not, however, a stopped approach.”
