MPC member hints at more imminent rate rise - reports

Rise need not be Brexit-dependent

Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) member Michael Saunders has echoed the Bank of England's (BoE) chief economist's hawkish tone as he suggested the BoE may need to raise rates sooner than expected, according to Reuters.

The newswire reported from a speech given by Saunders yesterday (10 June) at an Institute of Directors' event at Solent University in Southampton. Current expectations in the financial markets is that the BoE is more likely to cut rates than to raise them over the coming year, according to Reuters, citing global economic contagion from the US/China trade conflict, and a more dovish stance from the US Federal Reserve. This is in spite of BoE governor Mark Carney saying last month that inflation would likely breach target over the coming years if the Bank failed to raise rates faster th...