“Finely balanced” was how the Bank of England’s rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) described its decision to hold interest rates yet again. The election? Absolutely, positively, nothing to do with the decision, it said.
With the Bank in purdah, there were none of the usual commentaries or press conferences to accompany the decision, so there’s even more guesswork than usual in relation to when the much-anticipated rate cut might finally come.
What we do know is that the vote went seven to two in favour of standing still; one of the Bank’s deputy governors, Dave Ramsden, joined interest rate dove-in-chief Swati Dhingra in calling for an immediate cut. The seven others have “a range of views” on what should happen next and how restrictive the Bank’s stance should be.
Among the hawks, there were concerns that inflation’s return to the target of 2 per cent was “welcome” but not necessarily “indicative of the required sustained return to target”. To have inflation return to around 2 per cent sustainably is what matters to the MPC, which took considerable heat for acting too slowly to contain last year’s inflationary spike.
Denne historien er fra June 21, 2024-utgaven av The Independent.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra June 21, 2024-utgaven av The Independent.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Ten-man Forest earn draw in feisty battle at the Bridge
Chelsea’s winning run in the Premier League was brought to an end by 10-man Nottingham Forest who battled to a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge to maintain their own strong start to the season.
Brighton fight back to end Tottenham's winning run
Brighton scored three times in 18 second-half minutes to fight back from two goals down to stun Tottenham and claim a 3-2 win after an entertaining encounter at Amex Stadium.
United's vanilla display at Villa may yet save Ten Hag
Manchester United have rarely found relief in a five-game winless run but, for the second time in four days, there was some respite for the beleaguered Erik ten Hag.
One day in October that we have to keep remembering
Documentary maker Dan Reed's new film focuses on just one of the kibbutzim attacked on 7 October, as he explains to Guy Walters why the memory must never be allowed to fade
Wreck of 'ghost ship' found off the coast of California
The USS Stewart was deliberately sunk on 24 May 1946
'Impossible' for Beijing to rule Taiwan as motherland
As China seeks to 'reunite' the self-governing island with the mainland, Lai Ching-te insists his country is 'independent'
Heinz apologises as Black family advert sparks outrage
Heinz has issued an apology after it came under fire for an advertisement currently on display in Tube stations across London.
Landlord charges 'entitled' diners for wasting pub food
A pub landlord has warned customers he will charge them extra for large amounts of food they do not finish from his all-you-caneat roast dinner buffet.
Man endures cancer battle away from home as he waits for cladding work to begin
A homeowner who was evacuated from his flat a year ago due to dangerous cladding faces a battle with cancer from his temporary home as remediation work has not yet started.
'No one should live with threat of domestic abuse'
Dermot O'Leary backs Independent campaign for a refuge