BoE defies market expectations by holding interest rates

Inflation expected to peak at 5% in April

The Bank of England is more likely to begin hiking interest rates next year as opposed to in December, according to some investment professionals, who said its surprise decision to hold interest rates at 0.1% last Thursday (4 November), has been “particularly perplexing” amid previous warnings from Governor Andrew Bailey.

The bank's Monetary Policy Committee voted to hold the bank rate at its historic low, although the MPC minutes said it would be necessary to raise rates "over coming months" if the economy performed as expected. BoE chief economist warns UK inflation could hit 5% Hinesh Patel, portfolio manager at Quilter Investors, said that acting "would have been premature in our view, given there remains insufficient data on structural labour market developments". The vote comes following confusing messaging from the bank's MPC, with various speeches from members indicating an imminent rates ri...