Let's look back at February: inflation increased from 1.7% to 1.9%. The negative contribution from energy prices was smaller in February, but most importantly, core inflation jumped from 2.2% to 2.4%. The increase was seen for both services and goods inflation, and shows that, even before the Middle East conflict began, inflationary pressures had far from fully abated. From here on, things are set to get bumpier again. While we had expected inflation to remain below 2% for most of the year, the risk to the outlook is clearly up due to the war in the Middle East causing energy supply disruptions and soaring energy ... (full story)