The Bank of England has backed off from raising interest rates as it slashed 2018 growth forecasts, but said the economy would bounce back from a weather-hit “soft patch”. Policymakers kept the prospect of rate hikes firmly on the cards, although it sparked confusion over when the next increase may come.
The UK economy grew at its slowest rate since 2012 in the first quarter of the year, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has said. GDP growth was 0.1%, down from 0.4% in the previous quarter, driven by a sharp fall in construction output and a sluggish manufacturing sector.
The Bank of England is likely to raise interest rates twice this year and twice in 2019, despite a sluggish economy, says a forecasting body. Bank governor Mark Carney has said a rate rise is “likely” this year, but any increases will be gradual.
A deeper relationship with Europe will benefit the UK economy, the governor of the Bank of England has argued. Mark Carney's comments follow claims by chancellor Philip Hammond that the UK and EU economies will only move very modestly apart after Brexit.
Britain’s regulators will convert banking and insurance rules inherited from the European Union after Brexit to make them more tailored to the British market, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said on Wednesday. Carney said Britain had long expressed opposition to the EU’s cap on banker bonuses, the full application of banking capital rules on smaller lenders and the bloc’s insurance capital rules.
The Bank of England has raised interest rates for the first time in a decade to contain an increase in inflation stoked by the Brexit vote, in what is otherwise a moment of high uncertainty for the economy. In a statement Thursday, the bank said it had lifted its benchmark rate, which affects the cost of loans and savings rates in the wider economy, to 0.50% from the record low of 0.25%.
Bank of England is expected to reverse emergency action taken following the Brexit referendum, when it cut rates from 0.5% to 0.25% to avert a recession. While a slump has not materialized, the British economy appears in worse health than most other major countries, with potential to be blown further off course by faltering talks to leave the EU.
The UK's key inflation rate hit its highest for more than five years in September, driven up by increases in transport and food prices. The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) climbed to 3%, a level it last reached in April 2012, and up from 2.9% in August. The pick-up in inflation raises the likelihood of an increase in interest rates - currently 0.25% - next month.
Bank of England should hold off from raising interest rates next month, according to a forecasting body. Bank governor Mark Carney has said rates could go up in the relatively near term, with many analysts expecting a hike in November. However, the EY Item Club said such a move risked hurting the UK's fragile economic outlook.
Britain's Theresa May has defended free market capitalism in a speech marking 20 years since the Bank of England was given the right to set interest rates. She said Britons should never forget the value of a free market economy.