UK inflation exceeded expectations in October, rebounding to within the Bank of England's target range

The annual rate of inflation in Britain exceeded the Bank of England's target in October, and policymakers had said they would only gradually cut key interest rates, as expected. The Office for National Statistics reported on Wednesday that the CPI rose 2.3% year-on-year, up from 1.7% last month and slightly higher than economists' expectations of 2.2%. Core inflation was 3.3%, up from 3.2% last month. Policymakers had expected inflation to rebound after the announcement of a sharp increase in domestic energy prices. But they insisted that if they stuck to a gradual pace of rate cuts, inflation would fall back to the 2% target in the coming years. "This [gradual pace of rate cuts] will be enough to bring us back to our target sustainably," Bank of England Governor Bailey said on Tuesday.