Bank of England Surprises No One By Holding Rates

The Bank of England has kept interest rates at a record low of 0.5%, despite signs that the UK economy is improving.

The decision was widely expected, given governor Mark Carney’s pronouncements that the Bank would not even consider raising rates until unemployment falls below 7%.

Even then, Mr Carney said a rate rise was not guaranteed.

The Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has kept rates at 0.5% since March 2009.

The Bank also left its quantitative easing (QE) programme of monetary stimulus unchanged at £375bn. It has remained at this level since July 2012.

With the unemployment rate at 7.6% and inflation, as measured by the consumer prices index, falling to 2.2% in October, economists believe there is little pressure on the Bank to raise rates at this stage, despite mounting evidence of a strengthening economy.

via BBC

Content is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc. or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. If you would like to reproduce or redistribute any of the content found on MarketPulse, an award winning forex, commodities and global indices analysis and news site service produced by OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc., please access the RSS feed or contact us at info@marketpulse.com. Visit https://www.marketpulse.com/ to find out more about the beat of the global markets. © 2023 OANDA Business Information & Services Inc.