Fuel and fruit push up inflation

The rate of inflation rose slightly last month, as petrol prices continued to increase strongly.

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the rate of CPI inflation rose from 2.1% in December to 2.2% in January – a fifth of a percentage point above the 2.0% rate that the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is charged with maintaining.

The rise, which some analysts had expected to be larger, was driven strongly by increasing fuel prices. The ONS said that average petrol prices rose by 1.3p in January, reaching 103.9p per litre. Last January, petrol prices fell by 0.8p.

The price of food, particularly fruit, contributed to the upward pressure, having fallen less than in the same month last year.

"Today's figures reinforce the need for a cut in interest rates to 5% in March," said David Kern, of the the British Chambers of Commerce. "Whilst we agree that the MPC will not be able to make very large cuts in interest rates, it is important that rates are reduced modestly to 4.75-5.0% as early as possible."