General view of the Bank of England building in London.
LONDON – The Bank of England announced its decision to keep interest rates stable at its June meeting, but described the choice as «finely balanced» following the UK reaching its inflation target of 2 %.
Money market prices indicated around a 50% chance of a rate cut in August as investors interpreted a subtly dovish message.
The central bank’s reference rate is 5.25%, the highest level in the last 16 years, maintained since August.
Seven members of the monetary policy committee voted in favor of maintaining the rate, while two supported a 25 basis point cut, mirroring the outcome of the May meeting. One basis point represents one hundredth of a percentage point.
In its statement, the Monetary Policy Committee stressed that inflation had reached the central bank’s target and mentioned a softening of indicators related to «near-term inflation expectations» and wage growth.
The OAG (Office for National Statistics) added that uncertainty surrounding estimates of labour market activity made it “very difficult to assess its evolution”.
Reiterating an earlier message that had sparked speculation about potential easing, the Bank of England stressed the need for monetary policy to “remain restrictive for a sufficiently long period to sustainably return inflation to the 2% objective”.
Inflation data on Wednesday showed headline price increases cooled to 2% in May, beating the target ahead of the US and the euro zone, despite the UK seeing its sharpest spike in inflation in two years.
However, economists have noted that persistently high services rates and core inflation in the UK imply the potential for continued upward pressure.
The central bank’s decision to keep rates unchanged comes just two weeks before the general election, while the state of the economy and proposals to revive sluggish growth represent major battlegrounds.
Governor Andrew Bailey stressed that the politically independent BOE will remain focused on its own data, despite speculation that it may be more cautious after the upcoming vote.
‘Well balanced’
Attention has now shifted to the possibility of a rate cut in August. Money market prices indicated a nearly 50% probability of this following Thursday’s statement, higher than the previous day.
Among the seven members who voted in favor, the MPC noted disagreement over the level of accumulated evidence needed to justify a cut, making their decision “finely balanced.”
Some members said key indicators of inflation persistence “remain elevated,” citing concerns about services, strong domestic demand and wage growth. Others, however, argued that higher-than-expected services inflation in May had not had a significant impact on the UK’s overall disinflationary trajectory.
Ruth Gregory, deputy chief UK economist at Capital Economics, suggested that several developments point to a move towards a rate cut, including the «finely balanced» comment and the fact that the BOE’s overall tone has not become more hawkish as expected.
James Smith, developed markets economist at ING, said the chance of an interest rate cut this summer was higher than the 30-40% that markets had previously expected.
“I think the inflation numbers, services inflation… I think the road is still open, and I think they (the BoE) will remain reasonably confident,” Smith said in an interview.
He further added: “A bit like the (European Central Bank), I think they have more confidence in their ability to predict inflation than maybe 6-12 months ago.”
While several central banks in Europe have already started to ease monetary policy, including the ECB, the Swiss National Bank and the Swedish Riksbank, the US Federal Reserve, often considered the main central bank, has left traders uncertain about the timing of its first loosening. rate cut. Market data suggests a 65% chance of a September cut in the US.
The GBP’s losses extended against the US dollar, with the currency falling 0.3% to $1.267 by 1pm in London.
