Unanimous!
23 / Jul / 2009
Yesterday's minutes from the July MPC meeting showed a unanimous vote to hold interest rates and keep quantitative easing at the currrent level of £125bn. The committee said that it would be better to wait for the preparation of the August Inflation Report to assess whether QE needs to be extended to the maximum £150 authorised by the chancellor. Economists are divided in their views, with some saying that it'll be difficult to judge the effectiveness of QE by the next time it meets while others wonder whether the Bank may ask the chancellor to raise the limit. The FTSE enjoyed an eighth consecutive day of gains yesterday, but all is not yet well as weaker UK factory orders were reported to have fallen at their fastest rate since January 1992. The export orders balance improved slightly in July, but still indicated sharp declines. The CBI said that it was disappointing that sterling's 20% fall over the past two years had not had more of an impact.