The government's preferred measure of inflation drifted below target in January, signalling a benign outlook for prices, official figures showed today The office for National Statistics revealed that the consumer price index rose by an annual rate 1.9 pct in January, below expectations of a 2.1 pct increase Additionally, the reading for December was revised down to 1.9 pct from the initial reading of 2.0 pct. The adjustment, which came as a result of a rebasing of the data series, indicates that CPI inflation has now remained below target for two months in a row The CPI annual rate has been easing steadily from the September peak of 2.5 pct On a month-on-month basis, the CPI rate was fell 0.5 pct in January, steeper than the 0.4 pct drop predicted. Today's data may ease concerns on the Bank of England's rate-setting body, that could pave the way to another cut in borrowing costs in the coming months The Monetary Policy Committee is charged with targeting an annual CPI rate of 2.0 pct over a two-year horizon. As things stand, many economists believe subdued economic growth and a sustained decline in energy costs will help dampen inflationary pressures further and pave the way for at least one more rate reduction The BoE last cut its benchmark repo rate in August, by a quarter point to 4.50 pct Meanwhile, the core CPI annual rate which excludes energy, food, alcoholic beverages and tobacco stayed put at 1.3 pct for the second month in a row -- also the lowest since Feb 2005