BoE's Breeden Says Less Need To Consider Further Rate Hikes
(RTTNews) - The Bank of England is unlikely to consider further interest rate hikes as the likelihood of a greater persistence of inflation has diminished, a policymaker said Wednesday.
"The downside surprise in services price inflation and wage growth suggested a little less persistence than we had assumed in our central forecast back in November, and so my concerns about the risk of even greater persistence emerging have diminished," Sarah Breeden, deputy governor for financial stability, said in a speech.
"As I have become more confident that persistence is likely to evolve as embodied within our forecast, I have become less concerned that rates might need to be tightened further," the policymaker said.
Focus of many rate-setters has shifted to thinking about how long rates need to remain at their current level, Breeden added.
Last week, the BoE Monetary Policy Committee, led by Governor Andrew Bailey, decided in a 6-3 split vote to keep the bank rate at a 15-year high of 5.25 percent.
However, the UK central bank opened the door for interest rate cuts this year as it dropped the wordings referring to further tightening in its policy statement and lowered the inflation projections.
The BoE has held the policy rate steady for four straight policy meetings. Breeden was among the six policymakers who sought to leave the rate unchanged this month.
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