LONDON, July 15 - Following is a selection of economists'reactions to June consumer price data released by the Office for National Statistics on Tuesday. The ONS said RPIX fell to 2.8 percent from 2.9 percent in May and compared with market consensus of 3.0 percent.
ROBYN BARNETT, ECONOMIST, UBS
"The further decline in inflationary pressures clearly adds weight to the MPC's decision last week to reduce interest rates by further 25 basis points. It provides further evidence that inflation appears to have peaked slightly sooner than had previously anticipated. Moreover, with inflation expected to continue to fall back towards target over the coming months, this clearly suggests scope for further monetary easing in the even that another reduction in interest is deemed necessary to keep growth and inflation on track in the medium-term. For the time being though, we continue to look for no change in interest rates at the current times."
ADAM CHESTER, ECONOMIST, HALIFAX "Better than expected. Possibly, the MPC might have had this report last week. This is in line with the MPC's view that inflation will moderate in the medium term. On balance, there's possibility that if inflation remains this weak in coming months, the MPC could cut rates again."
PETER DIXON, ECONOMIST, COMMERZBANK
"Clearly inflation is going back toward the 2.5 percent target. I suspect that recent unwinding of sterling depreciation is going to put more downward pressure on inflation. We could well be back toward the target rate by the end of year. "I don't think this will have strong impact on UK interest rate outlook. The central bank is concentrating more on growth than inflation at the moment.//