Pound soars on bullish minutes as Bank sticks
STERLING’S summer surge continued yesterday after minutes of the Bank of England’s latest policy-setting meeting revealed a bullish outlook on the
UK economy, with little prospect for further stimulus.
The Bank’s nine-man monetary policy committee (MPC) voted unanimously to hold interest rates at 0.5 per cent for the 55th consecutive month in September, with its stock of asset purchases held at £375bn.
The pound jumped from $1.593 to $1.598 after the minutes were published. It is up from $1.49 in early July, and last night broke the $1.60 mark after the Federal Reserve’s statement.
“Bank staff estimated that the initial estimate of output growth in the third quarter would be around 0.7 per cent,” the minutes said, adding that there is evidence of “further strengthening towards the end of the year”.
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