Bank holds fire

Evening Chronicle (Newcastle, England), June 5, 2008

BANK of England policymakers are today expected to vote against a cut in interest rates as concerns over soaring inflation outweigh gathering economic gloom.

A flurry of worrying news on the UK economy is not thought to be enough to prompt the Bank's nine-strong Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to move rates down when they decide on the cost of borrowing later today.

Experts have predicted that the MPC will hold rates at 5% for the second consecutive month as fears over inflation overshadow signs that the economy is slowing at a faster pace.

The no-change vote was today said to be a "stone dead certainty" by Global Insight's chief economist Howard Archer, while many are even questioning if the MPC will move rates down again before the end of the year.