UK inflation expectations edge down in March

LONDON: Britons' inflation expectations for the next 12 months ticked down in March, a monthly survey from polling company YouGov showed on Monday.

The survey, carried out on behalf of Citi, showed inflation expectations eased to 2.7 percent this month from 2.8 percent in February, still above the January's 2.6 percent but well below the mid-2011 peak of 3.9 percent.

Expectations for annual inflation over the next five to 10 years were stable at 3.4 percent, matching the long-run average since the survey began in late 2005.

The Bank of England forecasts that inflation will fall below its 2 percent target by the end of this year, though a recent rise in oil and petrol prices has stoked fears that inflation may prove stickier. Citi economist Michael Saunders said the results should reassure policymakers that the recent prolonged inflation overshoot, renewed expansion of quantitative easing and recent increase in petrol prices have not destabilised inflation expectations.