Sterling falls as Bank of England keeps rates on hold

On hold at 0.5 per cent

The pound fell against the dollar shortly after the Bank of England announced that its nine person Monetary Policy Committee has voted (by a margin of 7 to 2) to keep the interest rates on hold at 0.5 per cent.

Sterling was down 0.5 per cent against euro and 0.2 per cent against the dollar after the news.

Threadneedle Street also said that it expects growth of 1.4 per cent in 2018, down from its previous forecast of 1.8 per cent made in February.

The MPC said: “The recent weakness in data for the first quarter had been consistent with a temporary soft patch.” It added that: “The conditions for steady growth had remained in place, the labour market had continued to be strong, and survey indicators had suggested that activity growth would pick up again in the second quarter.”