The Bank of England has kept rates on hold at its final meeting of 2023. But unlike the Federal Reserve last night, the UK’s central bank is clearly much more reluctant to do or say anything that might be seen as an endorsement of market rate cut expectations. Going into the meeting, markets were pricing upwards of four rate cuts in 2024, starting from May. We only get a statement and set of minutes today, so no press conference or new forecasts. That means there were only ever going to be limited avenues for the BoE to push back on market expectations. Even so, there’s nothing particularly dovish about today’s ... (full story)