BoE raises Bank rate by 25bps to 5.25% today. Two members, Jonathan Haskel and Catherine Mann voted for 50bps hike. Swati Dhingra voted for no change again. Six other MPC members vote for the decision.
Hawkish bias was somewhat softened slightly, as the language that “the MPC will adjust Bank Rate as necessary” was dropped. Nevertheless, the central bank maintained that “If there were to be evidence of more persistent pressures, then further tightening in monetary policy would be required.”
In the new economic forecast, modal CPI inflation was downgraded slightly from 7.0% to 6.9% in 2023 Q3, and from 2.9% to 2.8% in 2024 Q4. CPI forecast was upgraded from 1.0% to 1.7% in 2025 Q3.
