The Bank of England has issued its strongest guidance in a decade that it is poised to raise interest rates, setting the stage for a nail-biting decision at the November meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee.
Voting seven to two against an immediate increase in rates at the central banks September meeting, a majority of MPC members signalled that unless there is a sudden string of bad economic data, “some withdrawal of monetary stimulus is likely to be appropriate over the coming months”.
This guidance on rates is unusual from the BoE and suggests the committee is seeking to test financial markets’ likely response to a quarter point rate rise from the current low of 0.25% at the November meeting.
