Bank of England divided over timing of interest rate cuts amid fears inflation is creeping higher
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A BATTLE is brewing within the Bank of England as the nine people who decide Brits’ borrowing costs are at odds over the timing of interest rate cuts. The Bank yesterday held interest rates at 4.75 per cent amid rising fears that inflation is creeping higher again.
![[The Bank’s Governor, Andrew Bailey, said there was 'heightened uncertainty in the economy']](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/b606493e-a050-4ccb-921e-81bd8a67663c.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Records show that there was a surprising split in the ranks — with six members voting to keep them steady and three wanting to relieve pressure on the economy by lowering them. Money markets now reckon there is a 70 per cent chance of rates being lowered to 4.50 per cent at the Bank’s next meeting in February.
![[The Bank of England is divided over interest rates]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/front-view-facade-bank-england-958566489_051215.jpg?strip=all&w=641)
However, traders think there may also only be two or three rate cuts next year. Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “We’re seeing Scrooge-like policy returning from central banks, who remain cautious about inflationary risks.”.
![[Up to 1,000 jobs have been saved at Harland & Wolff]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/dt6868-view-shipyard-cranes-nicknamed-914918512.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
The FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 slumped, while interest on 10-year government bonds rose to 4.58 per cent. The Bank’s Governor, Andrew Bailey, said that there was “heightened uncertainty in the economy”. Chancellor Rachel Reeves has also been blamed by some for stoking inflation with her £24billion hike in National Insurance bills.
![[The Titanic was built at Harland & Wolff]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/1912-sombre-still-dawn-image-901548666.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
THE Chancellor’s line of “improving living standards” seems increasingly tone-deaf as the Bank dampened its growth forecasts yesterday. Rachel Reeves needs to remember her claims about protecting working people’s pay only ring true if they still have a job.
![[Knightsbridge is the most expensive area in the country]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/group-property-signs-cathcart-district-934713440.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
