The Bank of England meets today, Thursday, in the middle of the European session, to discuss monetary policy developments and raise interest rates, as attention is directed towards the largest increase that the market will witness to interest in England in a quarter of a century by 50 basis points to reach 1.75% compared to 1.25% currently.
The Bank of England has raised interest rates 5 times in a row since December, but they have been limited to only 25 basis points each time, but the Bank has come under pressure with inflation rising to a 40-year high of 9.4% y/y in June and expectations that it will rise to 11%.
During the rest of the year the bank may be forced to take a different step and raise interest rates by 50 basis points at today’s meeting. According to the statements of the members of the bank and the president of the bank, Andrew Bailey, that the bank is committed to taking strong steps if the inflation continues to rise, the markets started to raise the price by 50 basis points in August, and the percentage reached 70%, while 30% believe that the bank will continue to raise by 25 points.
At the same time, the Bank of England is struggling with rising prices, fears of recession and slowing growth, as is the case in most global economies, which makes the work of the Committee more difficult to decide.
The bank’s meeting is also expected to include details of the bank’s disposal of the £895 billion bond purchases made by the bank in recent years.
The British pound is trading stable at 1.2160 levels this morning against the US dollar, and its movements today will depend on the bank’s statement of interest, the bank’s future outlook on interest rates, and whether it will continue the strong lifting process in September or not.
A 50 basis point hike at current rates is a big deal, but the vote of the bank’s members and whether the decision is unanimous or not will affect the movements of the pound sterling If the bank violates expectations and raises interest rates by 25 basis points, the British pound will decline strongly.