Falling gas prices should help households but the struggling UK economy is still expected to be "broadly flat" for most of 2012, Bank of England rate-setter Ben Broadbent warned today.
His comments come ahead of official estimates widely expected to show the economy slipping into reverse in the final quarter of 2011 as inflation and the eurozone's sovereign debt crisis drag down growth.
Broadbent, pictured, expects inflation to fall back sharply, helped by falling energy prices. He said: "It is clear that the economy is broadly flat and that therefore, somehow measured and broadly speaking, the degree of spare capacity is probably growing."
The monetary policy committee restarted its money-printing in October, pumping £75 billion into the economy to ward off recession.
Analysts expect that the nine-strong committee will approve another £50 billion dose of quantitative easing next month when the current programme of asset purchases is completed.
