WThe British central bank is postponing its interest rate decision during the period of mourning following the death of the Queen. The Bank of England (BoE) monetary policy meeting, which has been eagerly awaited on the financial markets, will be postponed by a week from next Thursday to September 22, the central bank in London announced on Friday. The government had previously officially announced the start of the national period of mourning over the death of Queen Elizabeth II. This is valid until the end of the day on which the state funeral takes place.
The central bank meeting, which is now scheduled for September 22, is likely to result in another rate hike. In the fight against the rapidly rising prices, the currency guardians around BoE boss Andrew Bailey are under pressure. On the futures markets, it is now considered more likely that the BoE will leave it at a hike of 0.5 percentage points. Previously, there had been increased speculation on a larger step of 0.75 percentage points, as recently decided by the European Central Bank and the US Federal Reserve. Currently the key rate in the UK is 1.75 per cent.
The inflation rate on the island is in double digits. New Prime Minister Liz Truss recently unveiled a multi-billion dollar plan to deal with the energy crisis. The government expects that this will noticeably lower inflation. This should also take some of the pressure off the BoE to raise interest rates unusually sharply.