BOE’s Bailey says rate cuts in play
BANK of England (BOE) governor Andrew Bailey said expectations of interest rate cuts this year were not “unreasonable” and he struck an optimistic tone about the UK economy, the Financial Times reported on Friday (Mar 22).
“The fact that we have a curve that has cuts in it for the year as a whole is not unreasonable to me,” Bailey told the FT in an interview, adding he was encouraged by recent signs that inflation in Britain was on the wane.
“All our meetings are in play. We take a fresh decision every time,” he told the FT when asked if all the upcoming Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meetings were live when it comes to possible rate cuts.
The BOE on Thursday kept its benchmark Bank Rate on hold at a 16-year high of 5.25 per cent but two MPC members dropped their calls for a rate hike in the face of easing inflation and Bailey said “things are moving in the right direction”.
In his interview with the FT, Bailey said “we are not seeing a lot of sticky persistence” in inflation and “that is the judgment we have to keep coming back to”. REUTERS
KEYWORDS IN THIS ARTICLE
BT is now on Telegram!
For daily updates on weekdays and specially selected content for the weekend. Subscribe to t.me/BizTimes
Banking & Finance
SocGen Q1 profit slumps less than expected as investment bank surprises
Macquarie sees biggest profit dip in 15 years on commodities downturn
HSBC appoints ex-Citi banker as new Singapore head of global banking
A timeline of DBS’ recent banking glitches
Deutsche Bank unveils wealth targets after hiring push in Asia
HSBC asked by US$890 billion investor group to set new energy goal