Bank of England halts run of interest rate hikes as economy slows

The Bank of England halted its long run of interest rate increases on Thursday as the British economy slowed, but it said it was not taking a recent fall in inflation for granted.

Four members – Jon Cunliffe, Megan Greene, Jonathan Haskel and Catherine Mann – voted to raise rates to 5.5 per cent.“There are increasing signs of some impact of tighter monetary policy on the labour market and on momentum in the real economy more generally,” the MPC said in a statement. “CPI inflation is expected to fall significantly further in the near term, reflecting lower annual energy inflation, despite the renewed upward pressure from oil prices,” the BoE said.The BoE’s decision to pause its rate hikes came a day after the U.S. Federal Reserve also opted to keep borrowing costs on hold. Last week, the European Central Bank raised rates but suggested it might be the last for now.

In a separate statement on Thursday, Bailey welcomed the recent fall in inflation and BoE forecasts that it would continue to ease. “But there’s no room for complacency,” he said. “We need to be sure inflation returns to normal and we will continue to take the decisions necessary to do just that.”

Loans Loans Latest News, Loans Loans Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

Bank of England on brink of rate hike pause after inflation surpriseThe Bank of England will announce on Thursday whether it is halting a run of interest rate hikes that stretches back to December 2021, a day after signs that it had turned a corner in tackling Britain's high inflation problem. Investors piled into bets on the BoE keeping Bank Rate at 5.25% on Wednesday as soon as official data showed a surprise fall in the pace of price growth. Goldman Sachs and other banks ditched their previous calls for one more rate increase and investors put a roughly 50% chance on a pause by the BoE, up from just 20% on Tuesday.
Source: YahooFinanceCA - 🏆 47. / 63 Read more »

UK homeowners hope Bank of England avoids another rate hike after inflation fallsLONDON (AP) — Homeowners across the U.K. are hoping that the Bank of England will decide to avoid raising interest rates Thursday for the first time in nearly two years, a decision that would come on the heels of similar action by the U.S. Federal Reserve. Following Wednesday's news that U.K. inflation fell unexpectedly in August to 6.7%, its lowest level since Russia invaded Ukraine, expectations have grown that the Bank of England will opt to keep its main interest rate unchanged at a 15-year
Source: YahooFinanceCA - 🏆 47. / 63 Read more »