Economic Review – August 2018
Our monthly economic review is intended to provide background to recent developments in investment markets as well as to give an indication of how some key issues could impact in the future.
It is not intended that individual investment decisions should be taken based on this information; we are always ready to discuss your individual requirements. We hope you will find this review to be of interest.
INTEREST RATES UP BUT NO RUSH TO RAISE AGAIN
The Bank of England (BoE) has raised interest rates for only the second time in more than a decade, but stuck to its previous guidance that any further monetary tightening is likely to be only gradual and limited in extent.
On 2 August, the nine members of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted unanimously to raise the official bank rate by a quarter of a percentage point, from 0.5% to 0.75%. This took interest rates to their highest level since March 2009.
After making the announcement, BoE Governor Mark Carney suggested it was likely that further rate rises would be required over the next couple of years, in order to fulfil the BoE’s obligation of keeping consumer price inflation at around 2%.