The Bank of England will make its decision today. It is almost certain that The Bank will raise interest rates by 50 basis points.
In the UK, where inflation last hit 9.4 percent, the Central Bank, the Bank of England (BoE), will hold its August meeting to raise policy interest rates. After the meeting, the decision will be announced at 14:00.
While the markets are pricing the Bank’s 50 basis point rate hike, the messages of the Governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, are curious. In a hawkish speech on July 19, Bailey emphasized that there would be no “if or but” words in the Bank’s commitment to return inflation to its 2 percent target, suggesting that the Monetary Policy Committee may consider a 50 basis point increase.
If the decision is taken as expected, the UK policy rate will rise to 1.75, the most significant increase since 1995.
While the FTSE 100 index gained 0.49 percent on the pre-decision trading day in the UK, a stabilization was observed around 1.21 in the sterling/dollar parity.
Barclay’s analysts said they expect a “status quo” of 2 percent, up 50 basis points, then 25 basis points in September.
