BOE Raises Interest Rates In Surprise Unanimous Decision

As expected by the market, the Bank of England raised interest rates only for the second time since the financial crisis, to the highest level since 2009, saying recent data confirmed the bank's view that the first quarter slowdown in UK growth was temporary.

Members of the BOE's Monetary Policy Committee voted unanimously for a 25 basis point increase, bringing the BoE’s benchmark rate to 0.75%, the highest since the onset of the global crisis.

While the outcome was widely expected, with the market pricing in the quarter point rate rise fully in the run-up to the meeting well in advance, the surprise was that the decision was unanimous, which adds a hawkish tilt to this decision according to several Wall Street analysts.

The unanimous decision is perplexing because the BOE spent the two years since Brexit to scare the nation just how perilous the economy is. And yet, here they are, with just 8 months left until the final Brexit divorce deadline, to announce how upbeat the central bank is on the country's outlook, and to upgrade its outlook for the coming year.

And it certainly was upbeat: "The MPC continues to judge that the UK economy currently has a very limited degree of slack. Unemployment is low and is projected to fall a little further. In the MPC’s central projection, therefore, a small margin of excess demand emerges by late 2019 and builds thereafter, feeding through into higher growth in domestic costs than has been seen over recent years.”

Read the entire article