Sterling steadied this morning, consolidating some chunky gains this week, especially against the euro, before a historic Bank of England policy decision where it is widely expected to raise interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade.
With a rate hike virtually priced into the market, analysts would be keenly watching whether BoE Governor Mark Carney would signal more rate hikes in the coming months, an outcome that could push the British pound sharply higher or revert to a more cautious stance.
The Bank’s decision is expected to be announced during BoE Governor Mark Carney’s address at 1230 GMT.
The latest poll strongly supported the view that the BoE will raise base rates to the 0.5 percent they stood at from March 2009 until August last year, when they were halved to 0.25 percent after Britons voted to leave the European Union.
With the BoE expected to raise rates against the backdrop of weaker economic growth reported than before any other rate hike in the past 20 years, close attention will also be paid to the concomitant publication of its quarterly Inflation Report.