British inflation steady at five-year high in October

(FILES) This file photo taken on December 12, 2012 shows a member of the public walks past a Loyalist mural on the Shankill road in west Belfast in Belfast, Northern Ireland on December 12, 2012.<br />Lawmakers in Britain voted to impose a budget on Northern Ireland on November 13, 2017, in a move seen as a step towards taking direct rule of the semi-autonomous province, which has been deadlocked for months by a dispute between nationalists and unionists. / AFP PHOTO / Peter MUHLY

Britain’s annual inflation rate steadied at a five-year high of 3.0 percent in October as rising food prices offset falling motor fuel costs, official data showed Tuesday.

The Consumer Prices Index 12-month rate was unchanged from the level in September, the Office for National Statistics said in a statement.

Analysts’ consensus forecast had been for a slight rise in CPI to 3.1 percent.

Inflation has soared this year as a Brexit-hit pound ramped up import costs, which led the Bank of England to raise its key interest rate for the first time in a decade at a meeting earlier this month.

The BoE tightened borrowing costs to 0.50 percent from a record-low of 0.25 percent, with Britain’s inflation far above the central bank’s 2.0-percent target rate.

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