London: Britain`s annual inflation rate rose to 0.1 percent in July, up from zero the previous month, official data showed Tuesday.
"The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) grew by 0.1 percent in the year to July 2015, up from 0.0 percent in the year to June 2015," the Office for National Statistics said in a statement.
"A smaller fall in clothing prices on the month compared with a year ago was the main contributor to the rise in inflation."
Markets are looking at the inflation data, which has been kept low in recent times by falling energy and food prices, for indications of when the Bank of England will start raising its key interest rate from a record-low level of 0.50 percent.
The BoE`s main task is to use monetary policy as a tool to try and keep 12-month CPI inflation close to a government set target of 2.0 percent.
"The small rise in UK CPI inflation from zero percent to 0.1 percent in July merely reflects a slight shift in the timing of summer discounting of clothing and so has little bearing on the timing of the first interest rate rise," said Samuel Tombs, senior UK economist at Capital Economics research group.
The BoE`s main interest rate has remained unchanged for six and a half years to support the British economy`s recovery following the global financial crisis of 2008.
The US Federal Reserve is meanwhile forecast to start hiking its near-zero rate before the end of the year.
