Suren Thiru Says Bank of England Is More Likely to Cut Rates Than Raise Them Next

Suren Thiru of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales said the Bank of England’s next move is more likely to be a rate cut than a hike. According to Jin10, his comments followed the Bank of England’s decision on Thursday to keep its policy rate unchanged at 3.75%. Thiru said the central bank may enter a prolonged wait-and-see period to assess geopolitical uncertainty and instability in the domestic political situation. He described U.K. monetary policy as being “at a crossroads.” He added that a U.S.-Iran peace agreement has raised market expectations that inflation pressures could ease, but warned that if hostilities flare up again, conditions “could quickly tilt back toward rate hikes.” However, Thiru said that given the still-high level of global turmoil, the Bank of England is unlikely to begin cutting rates before next year.