Bank of England holds at 5.25% and predicts higher rates into 2027

Today (1 February), six members voted to hold rates at their current level, while two members wanted to increase the bank rate by 0.25 percentage points to 5.5% and one opted to reduce it by 25bps to 5%. This is the fourth consecutive time the MPC decided to hold rates since September 2023. The committee's decision was in line with the Federal Reserve and European Central Bank, which also decided to hold interest rates at their respective meetings in January. Continuing the pause of the hiking cycle followed an unexpected hike in inflation in the UK in December, which grew slightly...