February rate cut hinted at by MPC member

There is fresh momentum behind the case for a cut to the base rate of interest in February.

Bank of England deputy governor and Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) member Sir John Gieve hinted at an imminent rate cut during a speech yesterday (January 17th).

Sir John was addressing the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry and appeared to support a cut sooner rather than later.

However, he also spoke of the "testing times" ahead for the MPC and detailed the difficult decisions that need to be reached.

Commenting on Sir John's speech, Howard Archer from Global Insight said: "We suspect Sir John may well have voted for a 25 basis point cut to 5.25 per cent at the Monetary Policy Committee's January meeting.

"Sir John has recently been particularly concerned about the downside risks to the growth outlook, and it is notable that he was one of the three MPC members who voted for an interest rate cut as early as last November," he continued.

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