August's jump in inflation lands awkwardly for the Bank of England, a day before it sets interest rates.
And Deutsche Bank's reaction crystallises the discomfort in a single question: rates may be restrictive, but are they restrictive enough?
The BoE is widely expected to keep the base rate on hold at 3.75% when its Monetary Policy Committee announces its decision on Thursday at noon.
Borrowing costs have sat at that level since December, and one hotter-than-forecast inflation reading is unlikely to force an immediate change of course.
The probelm lies in the direction of travel.
Headline inflation rose to 3.1% in August, its highest since December, and Deutsche Bank now sees it climbing towards 4% around the turn of the year.
That would be double the Bank's 2% target, and the drivers are largely beyond the committee's control: energy costs, a January price cap the bank expects to rise more than 20%, and fresh pressure from the Middle East.
For a committee that has spent the year inching towards rate cuts, the message is that easing may have to wait.
Deutsche Bank went further, arguing that risk-management considerations have strengthened and that the likelihood of rate hikes has grown of late.
That is a striking shift.
Markets have been debating when the next cut might come, not whether the Bank might have to tighten again.
The immediate reaction on Thursday is likely to be caution rather than action, with rate-setters holding fire while they wait to see how far inflation climbs.
But the inflation figures narrow the Bank's room for manoeuvre.
With price pressures building into the new year, the committee faces a growing risk that it is forced to keep rates higher for longer, or, on Deutsche Bank's reading, to contemplate raising them again.
For now, the hold looks safe. The harder decisions come later.
