The Bank of England (BoE) left its rates unchanged on Thursday, at 5.25%, marking a first pause since the start of its monetary tightening in December 2021 and thus following in the footsteps of the Fed which had left its rates unchanged the day before.
The institution remains unclear on its future monetary policy. Further tightening will be required if there is evidence of more persistent inflationary pressures, the BoE said simply.
The pound fell by 0.6% to 1.2273 dollars after the announcement of the BoE decision.
The release of better than expected inflation data on Wednesday seems to have influenced his decision, while previously analysts were expecting the same rate increase.
CPI inflation over one year fell to 6.7% in August, 0.4 points less than the Committee’s expectations during the BoE’s previous monetary policy meeting, the central bank highlighted in its minutes. .
There were more and more signs of a certain impact of a more restrictive monetary policy on the labor market (…) and on the real economy more generally, the institution also said in its minutes .
The Swiss National Bank (SNB) on Thursday also opted for the status quo, unlike the European Central Bank and the central banks of Sweden and Norway, which raised their rates by 0.25 percentage points during their last meetings.