Was the Bank of England right to start lowering interest rates?
Andrew Bailey takes a calculated risk
It was a close call. On August 1st the Bank of England announced that it was cutting interest rates by 0.25 percentage points. The votes of its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) were split five to four. Ahead of the announcement, markets had also been divided, pricing in roughly a 60% chance of a cut. The bank says it intends to reduce rates only gradually from here. Markets reckon it will do so once more before the end of the year (see chart).
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Britain August 3rd 2024
- What will Great British Energy do?
- A riot in Southport shows how the British far right is changing
- How deep is Britain’s fiscal “black hole”?
- Britain’s railways go from one extreme to another
- The disease that most afflicts England’s National Health Service
- The race to become leader of Britain’s Conservatives
- Was the Bank of England right to start lowering interest rates?
- British voters care less about tax rises than politicians think
From the August 3rd 2024 edition
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The evolution of Britain’s extreme right
White nationalism has become more amorphous and more online
Inside the unrest disfiguring English cities
Anger over immigration will be a recruiting opportunity for the far right
What will Great British Energy do?
The new body’s first job is to unblock private investment
Britain’s railways go from one extreme to another
Departing: privatisation. Destination: centralisation
The disease that most afflicts England’s National Health Service
Stopping raids on capital budgets would be a start