(by Mark Riley)

Fears of a house price crash and the impact of cheap imports have temper Bank of England expectations of an inflationary spurt.

The Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee, in its quarterly Inflation Report, said that its forecast for the likely path of inflation remained "similar" to that made in August.

However, there was a risk that the committee, which sets interest rates, was being overly cautious in the face of a slowing property market.

"The risks around the central projection are… somewhat on the downside," Mervyn King, the Bank’s Governor, said.

Inflation may slow if the "housing market, and with it consumer spending, slows more markedly" than expected.