Bank of England holds fire on interest rates – but good news is coming for homeowners
The IndependentHere’s the good news: a rate cut in either July or August can probably be characterised as a racing certainty. As expected, the rate setting Monetary Policy Committee left rates at 5.25 per cent at their latest meeting. Dave Ramsden, one of the Bank’s deputy governors, joined the MPC’s dove-in-chief Swati Dhingra, an external member, in voting for a cut. Worryingly for homeowners faced with re-mortgaging – and for prospective homeowners – the Bank’s modelling now suggests a higher pathway for rates in the medium term than it previously forecast. However, the UK’s inflation outlook has started to look different from that of the US, which endured a shock rise to 3.5 per cent in the year to March when the UK rate fell from 3.4 to 3.2 per cent.