Bank of England Keeps Rates Low Awaits Scottish Vote

The Bank of England kept its key interest rate at a record-low today after persistent weakness in inflation and wage growth reinforced the case for keeping emergency stimulus.

The Monetary Policy Committee’s decision also came against a backdrop of a weakening euro-region economy and tensions with Russia over Ukraine. It was the last before Scotland holds an independence referendum that threatens to break the U.K. apart.

While the MPC split last month, with two of the nine members voting to increase the rate by 25 basis points from 0.5 percent, others led by Governor Mark Carney said economic circumstances didn’t justify such a move. They cited the potential for “shocks” to the economy from a premature tightening.

via Bloomberg

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Alfonso Esparza

Alfonso Esparza

Senior Currency Analyst at Market Pulse
Alfonso Esparza specializes in macro forex strategies for North American and major currency pairs. Upon joining OANDA in 2007, Alfonso Esparza established the MarketPulseFX blog and he has since written extensively about central banks and global economic and political trends. Alfonso has also worked as a professional currency trader focused on North America and emerging markets. He has been published by The MarketWatch, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and The Globe and Mail, and he also appears regularly as a guest commentator on networks including Bloomberg and BNN. He holds a finance degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) and an MBA with a specialization on financial engineering and marketing from the University of Toronto.
Alfonso Esparza