British finance minister Jeremy Hunt said on Wednesday the government had made "huge progress" in bringing down inflation, after official data showing consumer price inflation holding at 4% in January.

"Inflation never falls in a perfect straight line, but the plan is working; we have made huge progress in bringing inflation down from 11%, and the Bank of England forecast that it will fall to around 2% in a matter of months," Hunt said in a statement. (Reporting by William James, writing by Muvija M)