The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) sets monetary policy to meet the 2% inflation target, and in a way that helps to sustain growth and employment. At its meeting ending on 22 September 2021, the Committee judged that the existing stance of monetary policy remained appropriate. The MPC voted unanimously to maintain Bank Rate at 0.1%. The Committee voted unanimously for the Bank of England to maintain the stock of sterling non-financial investment-grade corporate bond purchases, financed by the issuance of central bank reserves, at £20 billion. The Committee voted by a majority of 7-2 for the Bank of ... (full story)

The Bank of England on Thursday kept monetary policy unchanged and downgraded economic growth projections for the third quarter of the year. It comes shortly after the U.K.’s economic growth slowed unexpectedly in July and consumer price inflation saw its largest month-on-month increase since records began in Jan. 1997. The inflation reading prompted some BOE watchers to bring forward rate hike expectations off the record 0.1% low to early next year, while economists at Bank of America believe the central bank could be pressured into a rate rise as soon as February if inflation pressure persists. Sterling traded up ... (full story)