LONDON: The Bank of England (BoE) is widely expected to raise interest rates for the first time in three years on Thursday due to mounting inflation pressures from the US-Iran war, taking a path already embarked on by all its main peers.
Economists polled by Reuters expect the BoE's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to vote 7-2 to raise Bank Rate to four per cent from 3.75 per cent — the first increase since August 2023, when inflation was over six per cent, and the first change in rates since a cut last December.
"I think they will have pushed through with a hike," said Hetal Mehta, chief economist at wealth managers St James's Place. A pickup in energy prices a couple of months ago and more recent signs of resilient economic growth are likely to have tipped the balance on the MPC, she added.
