Share on LinkedInShare on LinkedIn

ARTICLE · 09 SEPTEMBER 2005

Economic Update - More rate cuts are on the way

Roger Bootle’s response to September’s MPC meeting

United KingdomStrategy
Roger Bootle, Economic Adviser, Deloitte
Roger Bootle, Economic Adviser, Deloitte
Author LinkedIn connections
  • Today’s decision by the Monetary Policy Committee to leave interest rates unchanged after last month’s reduction to 4.5% should not be interpreted as a sign that rates are not going to fall again. I think there are three reasons why interest rates are likely to be cut again.
  • First, it is very rare for interest rates to be moved only once in any one direction. Indeed, the last time this happened was back in 1988, when rates were raised in February only to fall in March. Policymakers are much more comfortable moving interest rates in a series of steps.
  • Second, the Bank of England’s own macro-economic model suggests that each 1% change in interest rates only alters GDP growth by about 0.3 percentage points in two years’ time. So last month’s 0.25% rate cut will do little to offset the consumer slowdown.

We operate a free-to-view policy, asking only that you register in order to read all of our content. Please login or register to view the rest of this article.

See more popular content from