Growth downgrades and the rise in bond yields in recent months have wiped out the £9.9 billion margin that Reeves left in her Budget in October against her “stability rule” that day-to-day spending must be covered by taxes.

US economists are looking for monthly headline CPI at 0.31%, which would keep the year-on-year rate at 2.9%. Core CPI is forecast to come in at 0.28%, with the year-on-year rate ticking down a tenth to 3.1%.

To the extent that we can communicate what we think are the appropriate financial conditions for the UK economy, a larger move is a superior communication device, in my view,” Mann told the FT. Mann is due to give a speech at Leeds Beckett University this morning.