That as inflation slowed more sharply than expected in June, falling to 7.9%.
Markets promptly reeled in bets on the pace of future rate rises, sending the pound lower against the dollar.
The number also offered hope for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
He has promised to halve inflation by the end of the year - a target finance minister Jeremey Hunt has called "challenging".
On Wednesday, Hunt said there was no room for complacency:
"Prices are rising much too fast, there's a long way to go. If we look at inflation at 3% in the U.S., 5.5% in the euro-zone, you can see that if we stick to the plan, we can bring down inflation. That's what this government is utterly determined to do."
The opposition Labour Party, which leads in the polls, has accused the government of presiding over a "mortgage catastrophe" as borrowers are battered by rising rates.
Now the Bank of England is still expected to do a fourteenth straight hike in early August.
But markets think it may just be a quarter of a percentage point, not the half point that had been widely expected.
For consumers the outlook remains tough, however.
Though food price inflation also slowed, it still stands at 17.3%, putting a huge strain on household finances.
And the BoE doesn't expect overall inflation to fall back below its 2% target until early 2025.
