Official interest rates on the British pound remain at 5.25%. The Bank of England announced this in a statement released at the end of the directory. But? the share of those who would have wanted a cut increased: two members of the Policy Committee compared to one who expressed himself in this sense at the meeting of 21 March.
What is holding the monetary institution back from moving towards easing is the persistence of inflation, which in particular in services remains high with prices growing by 6% per year in March. The general inflation index instead showed a further calming to 3.2% in April, from 3.4% in February, but remains far from the 2% objective that the institution expects to reach in the second half of this year. year.
The directorate reiterates that it remains ready to adjust the monetary line based on what appears appropriate from the data received, with the aim of bringing inflation back to 2%.
In Great Britain inflation has continued to moderate and now stands at just above 3%, “this is encouraging” and the Bank of England expects it to continue its dynamics towards levels “very close to the 2% target” in the months to come. However, “we are not yet at the point where we can cut rates”, said governor Andrew Bailey, in the press conference at the end of the Bank of England meeting.
In June the BoE will reassess the overall picture: “let me be clear: a rate cut is neither ruled out” nor certain, he said.
At the Bank of England “it is likely that we will have to cut interest rates in the coming quarters, even more than the markets expected. But this is for the future and will really depend on how the data evolves”. This was stated by the governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, in the press conference at the end of the directorate.
“We have no preconceived positions on how much and how quickly we can cut rates. We will make a new decision on the appropriate level of rates at each meeting – he remarked – based on the data”. For the June directory he reiterated that a cut is neither a given nor to be ruled out.
