Economist and member of the Bank Of England's Monetary Policy Committee Catherine Mann said that there is a risk that some drivers of price growth in the UK could be heading upward.
"There are some opportunities for downward pressure on inflation, for example, due to export prices coming out of China. But other factors pose upward risks to inflation, and they are likely to be more volatile in the medium term," Mann said, adding that energy prices are more likely to rise than fall.
Last week, Catherine Mann voted against the Bank of England's interest rate cut, indicating that she would prefer to see the impact of the new British government's first budget and an increase in the minimum wage, which could boost overall wage growth and businesses' pricing power.
According to the latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), in September consumer prices rose by 1.7% per year after an increase of 2.2% per year in August. The latest increase was the weakest since April 2021. On a monthly basis, the consumer price index remained unchanged after rising 0.3% in August. Meanwhile, core CPI - which excludes energy, food, alcohol and tobacco - rose by 3.2% per annum (the lowest value since September 2021) after an increase by 3.6% in August. On a monthly basis, core consumer prices rose by 0.1%, compared with the 0.4% increase in August. It was the eighth monthly increase in a row, but the weakest growth in this series.