Follow UK Investment Immigration and UK Economic updates: The Bank of England—On the 20th, the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee released the minutes of this month's monetary policy meeting, stating that all 9 members voted to maintain the current monetary policy stance, as they did not identify any necessity for policy adjustments.
The Bank of England held its monetary policy meeting from November 6 to 7, after which it announced that it would maintain the ultra-low benchmark interest rate of 0.5% and the scale of quantitative easing at £375 billion (approximately $605 billion).
The minutes indicate that the Bank of England believes that, compared to last year, the distribution of risk points affecting the global economic outlook is balanced and widespread, with a noticeable impact on global economic recovery, particularly in the Eurozone.
Regarding the UK economy, the Bank stated that leading economic indicators continue to improve, and the economy is expected to remain in a recovery state in the second half of this year, with increased growth momentum. The Bank anticipates that the UK economy will grow by approximately 0.9% quarter-on-quarter in the fourth quarter; the unemployment rate is expected to fall to around 7.6%; while medium- to long-term inflation expectations in the UK remain relatively stable, with a long-term inflation rate around 2.5%, which aligns with the Bank's target of 2% inflation.
In August of this year, the Bank of England introduced "forward guidance on monetary policy," stating that it would maintain the current monetary policy stance until the unemployment rate falls below 7%, provided that inflation and financial market stability are ensured.
On the 13th of this month, the Bank released its latest quarterly inflation report, stating that the likelihood of the UK unemployment rate falling below 7% in the third quarter of 2015 is over 50%. The target achievement timeline is significantly earlier than the Bank's previous estimate of the second quarter of 2016, suggesting that the Bank may exit the ultra-loose monetary policy environment sooner.
In response, Jonathan Loynes, Chief European Economist at Capital Economics, stated that the Bank of England did not overly emphasize the 7% unemployment rate target in the latest minutes and expects inflationary pressures to gradually weaken. Given this, the institution anticipates that the Bank will maintain ultra-low interest rates for a considerable period, even if the UK economy continues to show strong growth momentum.
