BoE cuts growth forecast amid 'intensifying' Brexit uncertainty

Held rates

Tom Eckett
clock • 1 min read

Sterling dropped to a two-week low in early afternoon trading after the Bank of England said it had cut growth forecasts amid heightening Brexit uncertainty.

The BoE's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted unanimously to maintain rates at 0.75% in its February meeting, with just 50 days to go until the UK leaves the European Union, amid slowing UK activity and a decelerating global economy. Although the minutes noted the need for higher rates in the future, the MPC cut UK growth forecasts to 1.2% this year, down from 1.7% predicted three months ago, the lowest since 2009 and the largest downgrade since the 2016 referendum, while 2020's growth forecast was slashed 0.2 percentage points to 1.5%. The minutes said: "Since the MPC's previous me...

To continue reading this article...

Join Investment Week for free

  • Unlimited access to real-time news, analysis and opinion from the investment industry, including the Sustainable Hub covering fund news from the ESG space
  • Get ahead of regulatory and technological changes affecting fund management
  • Important and breaking news stories selected by the editors delivered straight to your inbox each day
  • Weekly members-only newsletter with exclusive opinion pieces from leading industry experts
  • Be the first to hear about our extensive events schedule and awards programmes

Join now

 

Already an Investment Week
member?

Login

More on Economics

Higher household bills push UK inflation to 3.5%

Higher household bills push UK inflation to 3.5%

Up from 2.6%

Cristian Angeloni
clock 21 May 2025 • 2 min read
BoE chief economist Huw Pill warns cutting UK interest rates too quickly has 'upside risks'

BoE chief economist Huw Pill warns cutting UK interest rates too quickly has 'upside risks'

MPC voted five to four to cut rates

Patrick Brusnahan
clock 20 May 2025 • 2 min read
UK set for EU deal after 'breakthrough' -reports

UK set for EU deal after 'breakthrough' -reports

Third big deal following India and the US

Patrick Brusnahan
clock 19 May 2025 • 1 min read
Trustpilot
Loading page