020 7898 0500Comments made by Mark Carney have poured cold water on expectations of a UK interest rate rise when the Monetary Policy Committee convene in May. The markets had previously priced in a hike, but the dip in inflation in March has left some thinking that a hike might not yet be necessary.
Carney did say that rate rises will occur over the next few years, but he resisted making any commitments to a May increase. This caused the pound to lose further ground against the dollar and what started as a promising week suddenly collapsed. The dollar retraced its recent losses and it will be interesting to see what happens when the May decision is announced.
It is a fairly quiet start to the week for UK economic data, but on Friday we will see the GDP growth rate for the first quarter of 2018 and the Gfk consumer confidence.
