Britain's consumer price inflation rises 3.5% to in January  

(MENAFN) Official data showed that UK's consumer price grew 3.5 percent on the year in January, up from 2.9 percent a month earlier, AP reported.

The Office for National Statistics said that Britain's consumer price inflation rate grew in January, due to a rise in the national sales tax and more expensive energy, saying that the increase was expected.

The statistics agency said that retail price inflation grew to 3.7 percent from 2.4 percent in December, and retail price inflation excluding mortgage interest payments rose to 4.6 percent from 3.8 percent.

The Bank of England said earlier that it expects the country's inflation to drop back later in the year. The bank's governor, Mervyn King, said that the higher rate during January was driven by higher sales taxes, higher oil prices and the lingering effects of a sharp depreciation of the British pound in 2007 and 2008.

King pointed out that over the past three years UK's inflation has been much more volatile than in the preceding 10 years, reflecting a growth in size and frequency of these short-run factors.