(MENAFN– ecpulse) While global attention is locked on Germany’s elections due next week, we shift focus to the royal lands as the Bank of England (BOE) minutes of the September meeting is to be released Wednesday, headlining a light day for the European economic news.
The BoE s set to release minutes of the rate policy meeting held September 4 and 5, when the bank maintained its record low 0.50 percent interest rate and GBP 375 billion quantitative easing at the meeting.
The minutes may show that the nine-member panel voted unanimously to keep both interest rate and APF at 0.50 percent and 375 billion pounds, while may show some disagreement regarding to guidance.
BoE’s officials provided an assessment of forward guidance last month and said they won’t raise borrowing costs until unemployment falls to 7 percent which is expected to happen by late 2016. However, signs of strength in the economy have prompted investors to bet on an earlier increase.
The most recent data has pointed to an improvement in the economy’s major sectors, manufacturing, services and construction, which raises forecast of seeing further progress in the economy in the third quarter after the 0.7 percent expansion recorded in the second quarter of this year.
Yesterday’s August report on Consumer Prices Index (CPI) showed that Britain’s CPI rose 2.7 percent in the year through last month, down slightly from the 2.8 percent year-over-year change through July, adding to expectations that the BoE will have more leeway to leave or even raise interest rates.
Sterling has been putting in a strong performance against the dollar on the back of better UK economic data. The GBP/USD is currently trading around $1.59164 as of 09:22 GMT+3, after scoring a session high of $1.59173 and low of $1.58924.
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.