Sterling falls as MPC hawks abandon rate rise push

Sterling fell against the euro and the US dollar as the latest Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) minutes revealed a unanimous vote against hiking interest rates.

Falling inflation in the UK has forced the two MPC members who have been voting for a rate rise since August, Ian McCafferty and Martin Weale, to abandon their conviction for the moment, the latest MPC minutes have revealed. This change in outlook caused sterling to weaken 0.4% against the euro, despite the currency's recent weakness, and 0.3% against the US dollar, as an imminent rate rise no longer seems likely. UK inflation fell to a surprise low of 1% in November and has continued to slide since then, dropping to a 15-year low of 0.5% last month. This has made an imminent rate ...