Bank of England Policy Still on Hold as Expected
April 9, 2015
The Monetary Policy Committee generally does not provide any useful information immediately after its monthly meetings, and the April statement released today was no exception. The publication of meeting minutes some two weeks later has usurped the decision announcement as the British central banking event of the month. Minutes will be released April 22. Last month’s minutes revealed a unanimous 9-0 vote, although two committee members said their decision not to change policy had been finely balanced. Everyone agreed that an increase in the Bank Rate is likely sometime over the coming three years, but the range of views of the likely path of interest rates was rather wide. While the March minutes created some speculation about a possible cut of the key interest rate closer to zero, talk that got a further boost from subsequent CPI inflation showing a zero on-year change, Governor Carney asserted that the next policy change quite assuredly is likely to be upward. British elections set for May 7 seem likely to elect a hung parliament, with no party securing a majority of seats.
Copyright 2015, Larry Greenberg. All rights reserved. No secondary distribution without express permission.
Tags: Bank of England
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