LONDON, May 22 (Reuters) -
Britain's consumer price inflation fell by less-than-expected in April, raising fresh doubt about the Bank of England's plans to cut interest rates in the coming months which would give a boost to embattled Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
British consumer prices rose by an annual 2.3%, down from a 3.2% increase in March and its lowest since July 2021 when it stood at 2.0%, the Office for National Statistics said.
The BoE - which has an inflation target of 2% - and economists polled by Reuters had forecast a bigger drop to 2.1%.
Services inflation, closely watched by the BoE as a gauge of domestically generated price pressure, also came in stronger than expected at 5.9%. The BoE's forecasts and the Reuters poll had pointed to a reading of 5.5%.
Sterling rose after the data.
(Reporting by Andy Bruce and Suban Abdulla; Editing by Kate Holton)
