Official figures show that British inflation slowed in April from a record high as the cost of household bills fell sharply.
The Office for National Statistics said consumer prices rose 0.3% last month, bringing the annual rate to 2.8%. That was down from 3.1% in March, a level which had forced the Bank of England to write an unprecedented explanatory letter to the British government.
Analysts had predicted the latest easing and as such the figures are unlikely to settle the debate about whether interest rates need to rise again after the Bank of England hiked them to 5.5% last week.
The chief reason for inflation's slipping from its high was a fall in gas and electricity bills as the major providers took on board lower global energy prices after last year's oil spike.
The ONS said these bills cut the CPI rate by 0.23 percentage points. A number of utility companies have announced further price cuts which have yet to take effect. There was also a downward impact from financial services as one major bank abolished its charge on foreign exchange transactions.
But there was less good news on inflation from food as the price of vegetables rose because of the change in recent weather patterns. The price of food and non-alcoholic beverages rose 6% on the year - the highest rate since June 2001.
