Interest rate decision under more pressure - papers 2nd August

According to the paper, the new data, indicating buoyant house prices but new weakness in manufacturing, will raise the pressure on the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee today as it starts its two-day rate-setting meeting. Most of the City expects the MPC to hold rates tomorrow, but a small minority of economists expects buoyant second- quarter GDP growth, and a pick-up in inflation, to persuade it to order a quarter-point rate increase. The MPC’s dilemma was sharpened further as Nationwide Building Society reported that average house prices jumped by a robust 0.8% last mont...