PRESS: UK inflation set to hit 4% around turn of year - BoE's Mann

UK consumer price index inflation is set to hit 4% around the turn of the year, Bank of England policymaker Catherine Mann said Tuesday, Reuters reported.

Mann at a conference hosted by economic advisors TS Lombard said that the UK economy risks getting further entrenched in wage negotiations early 2027.

The UK consumer price index inflation rate for August sat at 3.1% on-year, sped up from 2.9% in July. UK CPI data for September will be published by the Office for National Statistics on October 21.

Mann had voted for a quarter-point interest rate hike in July and September, with Huw Pill and Megan Greene also preferring such hike at both instances which were 6-3 decisions in favour of holding the rate.

Mann on Tuesday said according to Reuters: "We've had inflation well ​above target for the entire time that I've been in my position.... And so ​inflation has become embedded."

Further, she said economic demand in the UK was not strong, but positive. Businesses she visited seemed to adjust to higher energy costs, with her giving an example of a manufacturer who was installing solar panels.

The next Bank of England interest rate decision is due November 5, with a quarter-point hike to 4.00% from 3.75% widely expected.

It would be the first interest rate increase since August 2023, when it was hiked to 5.25% from 5.00%. It has since been lowered gradually with the last cut in December 2025 to 3.75% from 4.00%.

In late February 2026, the US launched a war against Iran which has sharply increased energy prices globally which has led to higher inflation rates.

The US Federal Reserve in September raised its rates for the first time since July 2023, while the European Central Bank in June already raised its rates, for the first time since September 2023. In September, the ECB raised its rates again.

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