<h1>Inflation above target pressures monetary policy and complicates the interest-rate decision amid economic and geopolitical uncertainty.</h1> Inflation remains above the Bank of England's target, constraining monetary policy and informing the imminent interest-rate decision. The slowdown in consumer prices was smaller than anticipated due to rising food and non-alcoholic drink prices and elevated transport costs. These sectoral increases, combined with external trade and geopolitical uncertainties, sustain upside and downside risks to the inflation outlook and complicate the Monetary Policy Committee's deliberations on the trajectory of interest rates.