All steady as MPC decides to wait and see
INTEREST rate changes remain off the agenda after the majority of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted to continue their policy of “wait and see”, it was announced yesterday.
The Bank of England’s interest rate setting body replicated last month’s meeting, with seven of the committee’s nine members voting against changes to either interest rates or levels of quantitative easing.
A rate increase of 0.25 per cent was again suggested by Andrew Sentance, while Adam Posen continued to propose £50bn more in quantitative easing. Yet neither convinced any of the other members to support their opposing proposals.
The minutes of the meeting, held on 3 and 4 November, concluded that “most members felt the balance of risks had not altered decisively” and that currently policy should be maintained.
“Given the uncertainties surrounding the economic outlook it’s no surprise there’s now a three way split on the MPC” said George Buckley, UK?economist for Deutsche Bank.