Pound has lift-off as inflation soars
The UK has just biggest jump in the annual rate of inflation from one month to the next since records began.
UK inflation rose at its fastest annual pace for nine months in December.
Which means Bank of England boss Mervyn King may not have the luxury of sitting on his hands as far as monetary policy goes.
The Office for National Statistics said the Consumer Price Index (CPI) measure of inflation had risen to 2.9%, up from an annual rate of 1.9% in November.
Traders are betting Merv will be forced to tighten (or at least ease up on anything resembling quantitative easing) sooner rather than later.
Bloomberg: The pound traded at 87.37 pence per euro as of 11:34 a.m. in London from 88.03 pence yesterday. It strengthened below 88 pence for the first time since Sept. 15 yesterday. The pound traded at $1.6377 after rising to $1.6458 earlier, the highest since Dec. 8.
