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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Business
Heather Stewart Economics editor

Rate cut can lift mood but Bank’s forecasts are unambiguously bleak

A man is silhouetted in front of the Bank of England in London
Forecasts from the Bank of England suggest a dreaded ‘wage-price spiral’ is now a distinct possibility. Photograph: Kin Cheung/AP

Keir Starmer said Thursday’s quarter-point rate cut from the Bank of England would be welcomed by many voters who would see “more money in their pockets”. The prime minister is right, at least when it comes to borrowers on floating-rate mortgages, and Labour will be glad the nine-member monetary policy committee (MPC) has signalled clearly it is in cutting mode.

The Bank’s governor, Andrew Bailey, said the MPC would be “taking a gradual and careful approach to reducing rates further” – and the fact that two of the MPC’s nine members wanted a larger, half-point cut signals more to come.

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