The Bank of England (BoE) unsurprisingly maintained its key rate at 5.25% on Thursday but said it was “optimistic” that inflation would decline in the coming months, which could pave the way for easing monetary.
We have had encouraging news on the inflation front and believe it will fall close to our 2% target in the coming months, said Governor Andrew Bailey, adding however that he wants to see more evidence. in this sense.
The BoE estimates that UK gross domestic product (GDP) growth has strengthened since the start of the year, reversing the trend of the second half of 2023, during which the UK fell into a technical recession .
The British monetary institution estimates that GDP rose by 0.4% in the first quarter, and raised its growth forecasts to 0.5% for the whole of 2024 and 1% in 2025 in the United Kingdom. In February, it was banking on 0.25% for 2024 and 0.75% in 2025.
Official UK GDP figures for the first quarter of 2024 will be published on Friday. The British pound accentuated its decline against the dollar shortly after the decision, losing 0.35% to 1.2454 dollars around 11:10 a.m. GMT (1:10 p.m. Paris).