“The decision to keep interest rates on hold, while expected, is a missed opportunity to provide much needed relief for those people struggling with their mortgage bills and businesses facing numerous cost pressures.
“A second rate-setter voting to loosen policy suggests that the Bank of England is slowly pivoting towards interest rate cuts.
“The Monetary Policy Committee remains unnecessarily hawkish on loosening monetary policy, given rapidly receding inflation, which risks subduing the recovery from recession by keeping borrowing costs high for too long.
“Given the Bank is now forecasting inflation to fall more quickly, an interest rate cut by the end of the summer remains very much on the table.”
ENDS
Notes to editors:
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