Britain's consumer price inflation slowed to 3 percent in February this year from January's 14-month high of 3.5 percent, the Office for National Statistics said Tuesday. The figure was also below the 3.1 percent forecast made by economists. Tuesday's data showed that the CPI has peaked and begun to decline, which would likely provide evidence for the Bank of England to keep loose monetary policies for a while. The central bank predicted that inflation would slide below the target level of 2 percent at the end of this year. According to the ONS, the inflation rate fell in February because of the downward price of toys, games and books, and gas. British Gas announced on Feb. 4 that it cut prices by an average of 7 percent, the third such price reduction in 12 months. About 8 million households in the UK have benefited from the reduction and their gas bills would be reduced by 55 pounds (about 83 U.S. dollars) a year. The central bank said that the recent rise of inflation was transitory and weak economic growth and high unemployment would continue to limit the ability of firms and workers to raise prices and wages. According to the ONS, the CPI rose 0.4 percent in February compared with the previous month. If mortgage costs were included, the retail price index inflation in February remained unchanged at 3.7 percent. The core inflation excluding food and energy prices in the month rose 2.9 percent from a year ago. The figure in January was 3.1 percent. 