–Repeats Item Transmitted at 1805 GMT Monday
–UK Petrol Prices Up 0.5% On Month In January

LONDON (MNI) – The surge in petrol prices in January 2011 means
they should have a hefty downward effect on inflation this January.

Petrol prices rose 4.4% in January 2011 and, according to the
Market News Petrol Price Index rose 0.5% this January. Base effects
entail if this fall is replicated in the official data they will knock
0.16 percentage points off the yearly change in January CPI.

The Bank of England has forecast UK inflation will decline sharply
in the first quarter, as the sharp rises in value added tax, some
commodities and energy costs in early 2011 provide favourable base
effects.

Analysts’s median forecast is for January CPI, out Tuesday at 0930
GMT, to fall to 3.6% from December’s 4.2%.

Below are the results of the MNI petrol price index:

% change m/m 2012 2011

! Jan ! Dec ! Nov ! Oct ! Sep ! Aug ! Jul !
————————————————————————
MNI PETROL PRICE INDEX 0.5 -0.3 0.2 -0.1 -0.1 0.5 -0.5
ONS FUELS/LUBRICANTS n/a -0.6 -0.5 -0.2 -0.2 0.7 -0.7
MNI Index Contribution
to CPI y/y Change -0.16 -0.13 -0.06 -0.08 0.03 0.06 0.01
ONS F/L Contribution
to CPI y/y Change n/a -0.14 -0.09 -0.08 0.03 0.07 0.00

—London Bureau; Tel: +44207 862 7491; email: drobinson@marketnews.com

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