P. M. BRIEFING : Inflation Hits 9.4% in Britain

LONDON —  Britain’s annual inflation jumped sharply to an eight-year high of 9.4% in April, fueled by an unpopular new poll tax and higher excise duties, the government said today.

The rate contrasted with 8.1% in March, but Chancellor of the Exchequer John Major expressed qualified relief that the fears of some economists that it would breach 10% were not realized.

Major, warning trade union leaders not to use the figure as a yardstick in pay bargaining, said the rate was “a little better than expected but still far too high.”

News that inflation had been contained within single figures reassured the markets. The British pound fell slightly against the West German mark and the dollar but stock prices firmed.