The minutes from the latest Monetary Policy Committee have been released, and there are signs that members of the committee are trying to decide how much slack there is in the market, and when they can start cutting back on bond asset purchases and when it makes sense to raise interest rates.
Every month, the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee meets to decide what it will do when it comes to the decisions that affect the way money works in the United Kingdom. The latest MPC minutes show that all members were unanimous in the vote to keep the bond portfolio the same size, and to keep the rate at a low 0.5 per cent.
However, the minutes show that there was discussion about when to change things up. It appears that the MPC is starting to get serious about exiting its stimulus strategy, and some wonder if, instead of next year, the BOE will decide to raise rates later this year. Or at least reduce the size of its asset portfolio.
The news prompted more gains for the UK pound, which continues in strength for another session.
At 13:25 GMT GBP/USD is up to 1.6887 from the open at 1.6839. EUR/GBP is down to 0.8088 from the open at 0.8137. GBP/JPY is up to 171.0850 from the open at 170.6350.
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