The September base interest rate meeting of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee has been moved to 22 September.
The Committee was originally scheduled to meet on the 15th. One the table: voting to raise the base interest rate to keep the inflation in check, or not. However, more pressing matters made rescheduling the meeting necessary.
National Period of Mourning In The UK
Her Late Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, died peacefully last Thursday afternoon, 8 September. A ten-day national mourning period was announced across the UK. The rescheduling of the Committee was made in respect of this period of national mourning.
The Bank of England announced the reschedule in a tweet last Friday, 9 September: “In light of the period of national mourning now being observed in the United Kingdom, the September 2022 meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee has been postponed for a period of one week. The Committee’s decision will be announced at 12 noon on 22 September.”
Is Another Base Interest Rate Raise About To Be Voted In?
Finance experts are anticipating another vote to raise the base interest rate in this rescheduled September meeting. If so, this would take the interest rate to its highest level yet.
The new Chancellor of the Exchequer, Kwasi Kwarteng, is in full support of the Committee in its mission to keep inflation in check. The Committee last met on Thursday, 4 August. That meeting concluded with a vote to raise the base interest rate from 1.25 to 1.75 percent.
At the time, the raising of the base interest rate was the sixth in a series of increases that the Bank of England allowed. The reason for raising the interest rates was to help slow down the rising rate of inflation in the UK.
That vote was the highest increase in the base interest rate since December 2008. Experts also noted that it was the biggest single increase (0.5%) since 1995.
For the meeting on 22 September, analysts are speculating that another increase may be up for a vote. If the Committee does go to a vote, it could further raise the base interest rate to up to 2.25 percent. How that will affect the housing market and the private rented sector in particular, is worth watching. We previously noted buyer confidence in this article---check it out.
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