BoE's Ramsden warns of faster rate cuts in deflationary scenario

Leeds University Business School speech

The Bank of England's deputy governor for markets and banking has warned interest rates could be cut faster than expected if inflation falls "materially" below 2%.

In a speech at Leeds University Business School on Wednesday (20 November), Dave Ramsden described the significant fall in headline inflation as "the main development on the UK economy over the last year". He recalled the MPC's forecast in November 2023, which predicted it would take over two years for inflation to return to the 2% target, noting it took just six months. Earlier this month the Monetary Policy Committee cut rates for the second time this year, taking the bank rate to 4.75%, and remarking in the monetary policy report that it expects inflation to rise to around 2.8% ove...