London, March 20 (Reuters) – The Bank of England held interest rates at 4.5% and warned hypotheses they would be reduced during its next meetings when it was faced with a deep uncertainty that exceeds British and global economies.
Noting that the climbing of world trade tensions was launched by the United States, the monetary policy committee voted 8-1 to keep the rates pending with only the external member Swati Dhingra voting for a quarter of a quarter.
Economists interviewed by Reuters had mainly planned a 7-2 vote to maintain pending rates.
“There is a lot of economic uncertainty at the moment,” Governor Andrew Bailey said in a statement.
He said that BOE rates were still thinking about a gradually decreasing path, but that it would look like “very closely in the way in which global and national economies are evolving at each of our six -week meetings.”
The Monetary Policy Committee said it expected inflation pressures to continue to facilitate ease, but “there was no presumption that monetary policy was on a predefined path in the next meetings”.
The 61 economists interviewed by Reuters before the BOE march meeting had predicted that it would maintain the 4.5% waiting banking rate with the next drop probably in May with new discounts in August and November.
The MPC repeated its guidelines made in February that it adopted a “progressive and meticulous approach” for new rate drops.
He said the uncertainty of global trade policy has intensified after the United States has made a series of import prices announcements that caused reprisals from certain other countries.
On Wednesday, the United States Federal Reserve reduced its economic growth forecasts for this year, increased its projection of inflation and said that the uncertainty suspended on the economy had increased by keeping the costs of borrowing.
The BOE said that “other geopolitical uncertainties have also increased” and it noted that the huge borrowing plans in Germany.
At home, the increase in imminent taxes of the British government for employers was probably the source of price increases in the service sector, said the Committee and noted surveys suggesting a weakness of hiring intentions by companies.
The BOE has slightly increased its forecasts for a peak in inflation this year it has now put 3.75% in the third quarter, slightly compared to its estimate in February 3.7%.
British inflation stuck firmly above its target of 2% – it increased to 3% in January – the BOE has reduced less loan costs than the European Central Bank and the Fed since last summer, contributing to the slow growth rate of the country.
