■ UK inflation has been slowly falling below the Bank of England target of 2% since January 2014, helped by declining food prices and relatively weak demand. More recently, the shock of falling oil prices has raised concerns that deflation may take hold.
■ Mark Carney stated that inflation could temporarily turn negative in the spring because of falling oil prices. Yet, added that it would pick up again through the course of 2015 as the initial declines drop out of the annual comparison, subject to energy and food prices stabilising.
■ While persistent deflation is a potential risk to the UK economy, a period of low inflation does offer property investment benefits.