Growth slowing, inflation rising

The data released over the last month have provided the MPC with something of a dilemma between slowing activity on the one hand and rising price pressures on the other. The business surveys have softened and the housing market has weakened. But at the same time, the oil price has risen to just under $100 per barrel and there is evidence that higher costs are filtering along the inflation pipeline.It is not yet clear which of these forces will prove dominant. On top of that, the MPC has the growingturmoil evident in the financial markets to consider too.