In the Bank’s interim assessment in January 2015 of the October 2014 Outlook for Economic Activity and Prices (hereafter the Outlook Report), the forecasts for the year-on-year rate of increase in the CPI (all items less fresh food) have been revised downward toward fiscal 2015 from those presented in the October 2014 Outlook Report.
From a somewhat longer-term perspective, the decline in crude oil prices – the main factor behind this downward revision – will exert upward pressure on the underlying trend in prices by producing stimulus effects on the economy.