The Bank of England will today announce whether it will raise interest rates, with most experts expecting it to hold off until at least after the summer.
A Reuters poll of 62 economists found nearly all (59) expect no change from the current 0.5% base rate, a complete reversal from a poll conducted in April when 69 of 76 financial experts predicted the Bank would increase rates by 0.25% in May.
The news agency says the dramatic turnaround from a poll taken just a few weeks ago “was triggered by dovish comments from BoE Governor Mark Carney, together with a slew of downbeat data suggesting Britain’s economy is barely growing”.
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The latest disappointing economic data concerns Britain’s consumer economy, which failed to rebound last month after bad weather kept shoppers at home in March.
In another sign of slow growth in 2018, the British Retail Consortium said on Wednesday that overall retail spending contracted by 3.1% year-on-year in April.
That followed shock growth data released last month, which found overall GDP increased by just 0.1% in the first three months of the year, adding to the growing sense that the economy is struggling and pushing back expectations of a rate rise before the summer.
