Summary
- The Bank of England said it held its benchmark interest rate at 3.75%% for a fourth straight meeting at its Monetary Policy Committee meeting.
- The U.K.'s consumer prices rose 2.8%% last month, above the Bank of England's 2%% target but below the market forecast of 3%%.
- The Bank of England had signaled that a rate increase later this year was possible because of rising energy prices stemming from the Iran war, but the situation changed after the U.S. and Iran reached an MOU to end the conflict.
The Bank of England held its benchmark interest rate steady.
The central bank said after a Monetary Policy Committee meeting on June 18 that it kept the rate at 3.75% for a fourth straight meeting.
The decision appears to reflect softer-than-expected inflation data. The U.K. Office for National Statistics said consumer prices rose 2.8% in the previous month from a year earlier. That was above the Bank of England's 2% target but below the market forecast of 3%.
At its April Monetary Policy Committee meeting, the Bank of England had signaled a possible rate increase later this year, citing rising energy prices driven by the Iran war. But the outlook has shifted after the U.S. and Iran reached a memorandum of understanding to end the conflict.
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