The Bank of England took a different step towards cutting interest rates on Thursday, when a policymaker backed a cut and Governor Andrew Bailey said he was "optimistic that things are moving in the right direction".
Here are comments from a press conference from Governor Andrew Bailey:
"Most likely we will have to reduce bank rates in the next few quarters and make monetary policy a little less restrictive in the forecast period, perhaps more than what is currently priced in market rates. "This will be consistent with ensuring that inflation does not fall significantly below target at the end of the forecast period."
"Before the next meeting in June, we will have two full sets of data for inflation and labor market activity and that data will help us in reassessing."
"The absence of data shocks is an indication that we are now returning to a more normal phase, at least compared to the period we went through during the global pandemic and the geopolitical crisis in Europe.
"Risks to the global economy are seen to still exist, including from the conflict in the Middle East. However, the economy has successfully adapted to deal with those risks."
"Inflation has now come down to about 3% and we expect it to be close to the target in the coming months. This is seen as very encouraging.”
“The dynamics of UK inflation are different from the United States. The United States faced a different situation. It has a stronger demand, and therefore I think it is important to express the difference.
Market focus is directed to the latest indications issued by market makers.
