MPC split three ways on monetary policy

The Bank of England was split three ways in its last meeting on interest rates and QE, with two rogue members voting to change the path of monetary policy.

As expected, hawk Andrew Sentance preferred an increase in bank rate of 25 basis points, while dove Adam Posen voted to increase the size of the asset purchase programme by £50bn. Sentance says although some slowdown in growth might be occurring in the UK and overseas, he believes it must be viewed alongside the strong momentum of growth in the first half of the year. "In the view of this member (Sentence), by failing to respond to persistent above-target inflation, which was forecast to continue for some time, the Committee risked a loss of credibility that would be damaging to busin...