EDITORIAL: Needed bank rate cut is unlikely
Some analysts have suggested the Reserve Bank overreacted by hiking rates in November and now would be the right time to admit that and reverse the decision
In the immediate aftermath of the Brexit vote in 2016, the Bank of England cut its main interest rate to a record-low 0.25% and expanded its stimulus package as it sought to prevent a recession that was seen as inevitable after voters decided that the UK should leave the EU. Bank governor Mark Carney was so concerned about the implications of Brexit on the economy that he took the unusual step of warning commercial banks that he wanted to see them pass the lower borrowing costs to customers, having also announced additional support to cushion their profitability from the lower rates. Britain’s economy had entered uncharted territory and the bank was at the time forecasting a gloomy outcome for the economy, including the loss of about 250,000 jobs. Inflation, which at the time was running at less than half the 2% target, was the last thing on his mind. Even then the experience of his predecessor Mervyn King at the height of the global financial crisis and the great recession showed t...
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