Bank of England’s Bailey says he expects interest rates to fall ‘gradually’

The Bank of England kept kept interest rates on hold at 5% last week. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

The governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, has said he expects interest rates to fall gradually but warned consumers not to expect a return to near-zero levels.

Bailey said he was “very encouraged” by the downwards path of inflation and “therefore I do think the path for interest rates will be downwards, gradually”. Last week, the Bank kept borrowing costs on hold at 5%.