Bank of England reschedules MPC meeting
The Bank of England has today announced that the planned MPC meeting on 6 May, the day when voters go to the polls, will be rescheduled for 7 May. We will also see the release of the quarterly inflation report on 12 May ensuring that voting intentions are not influenced by any announcements by the Bank of England on the big day.
Despite the fact that the Bank of England recently voted to maintain UK base rates at 0.5% there is conflicting advice from various analysts and experts. On one hand we see some fears that inflation will rear its ugly head again and UK base rates will need to move higher, while on the other hand we see concerns that the UK economic recovery is weakening and base rates will need to fall to nearer 0%. Against this backdrop of conflicting advice and conflicting economic data it is very difficult for the Bank of England to take a medium to longer term view on the UK situation.
It will also be interesting to see what role the Bank of England plays in the UK regulatory market after the election because the Conservative party has already indicated it would look to place the Bank of England back at the centre of the UK regulatory network.
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