Retail price inflation in Britain is likely to continue undershooting the Bank of England's 2.5 per cent target for the next few months, according to data released yesterday.

The Office for National Statistics said that annual RPIX inflation, the measure targeted by the Bank, which excludes mortgage payments, was unchanged in July at 2.2 per cent, with the headline rate unmoved at 3.3 per cent.

But even those rates were maintained only because of large increases in seasonal food prices, unlikely to be repeated in coming months. The wet and cold spring pushed seasonal food prices up by 4.9 per cent on the month.

Clothing and footwear, one of the categories of retail goods prices most affected by import prices, fell by a record amount in the 12 months to July.

Meanwhile, petrol and oil prices, despite renewed increases in global oil costs in recent months, rose less sharply on an annual basis than earlier in the year.