London, - The Bank of England kept today rates at 5.25 percent for the second month running, as the central bank continues to battle inflation.
The monetary policy committee voted 63, with the minority favoring a 25 basis point increase. The central bank also said that UK GDP is expected to have been flat in 2023 Q3, weaker than projected in the August Report. It added that some business surveys are pointing to a slight contraction of output in Q4 but others are less pessimistic. GDP is expected to grow by 0.1 percent in Q4, also weaker than projected previously.
"The Committee continues to judge that the risks to its modal inflation projection are skewed to the upside. Second-round effects in domestic prices and wages are expected to take longer to unwind than they did to emerge. There are also upside risks to inflation from energy prices given events in the Middle East," the committee said in a statement to the press.
Source: Qatar News Agency