Bank of England leaves policy unchanged, says interest rates are ‘under review’

LONDON — The Bank of England held interest rates steady at 5.25% on Thursday.

The Monetary Policy Committee voted 6-3 in favor of holding rates.

“The MPC remains prepared to adjust monetary policy as warranted by economic data to return inflation to the 2% target sustainably,” the Bank said in statement.

“It will therefore continue to monitor closely indications of persistent inflationary pressures and resilience in the economy as a whole, including a range of measures of the underlying tightness of labour market conditions, wage growth and services price inflation. On that basis, the Committee will keep under review for how long Bank Rate should be maintained at its current level.”

Much of the market focus of late has been on when the central bank will start cutting interest rates from their current 15-year high.

U.K. headline inflation unexpectedly nudged upward to an annual 4% in December on the back of a rise in alcohol and tobacco prices, while the closely watched core CPI figure was unchanged at 5.1%.

However, it has remained on a general downward trajectory, while the Bank’s key indicators of the labor market, wage growth and services inflation have all shown signs of easing.

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