BoE playing safe ahead of Brexit vote – ANZ

Research Team at ANZ, notes that there was nothing significantly new in the BoE MPC summary and minutes of this week’s monetary policy meeting.

Key Quotes

“The majority of the concerns raised about inflation and the impact of the looming UK vote on EU membership have generally been uttered in the past month or two. The policy rate was left unchanged at 0.50% and the asset purchase target at £375bn, with the decision on the MPC unanimous.

Certainly with headline inflation at 0.5% y/y in March and the Brexit vote approaching, the BoE has time on its side before seriously considering tightening policy to be better in line with the underlying strength of the real economy, especially (as the minutes acknowledge) given the modestly negative impact the EU membership debate is having on business spending.”