The Bank of England’s Inflation Report on Thursday is not expected to contain any surprises TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER RICHARD POHLESlowing growth and weak wages should deter the Bank of England from raising interest rates this week, but momentum is growing for an increase in the second half of the year, according to The Times’s panel of shadow policymakers. The majority of The Times shadow monetary policy committee voted for no change this month and expect the Bank’s Inflation Report on Thursday to hold few surprises. The Bank is expected to leave interest rates on hold at 0.25 per cent and to leave quantitative easing unchanged at £435 billion, but it may trim its GDP forecast for this year from its February prediction of 2 per cent. In March Kristin Forbes became the first member of the Bank’s MPC to call for an immediate quarter-point…

Source: The Times May 09, 2017 23:03 UTC