On Thursday, if as expected, Andrew Bailey, governor of the Bank of England, announces that interest rates are rising for the 12th consecutive time — to 4.5 per cent — economists will scrutinise how he and the eight other members of the Bank’s monetary policy committee cast their votes.
Most economists expect that seven will vote for a quarter-point rise and two for no change, but they are on high alert for any surprises. Liz Martins, senior economist at HSBC, said that while she thought it would be a 7-2 vote, it may go a number of ways: “We could plausibly get votes for a 50 basis-points rise, a 25 basis point rise, or even, potentially, a cut.”
The MPC has a mandate to use
