Bank of England to retain interest rate level in pre-election meeting

The Bank of England signals to keep interest rates steady on Thursday as the snap election on Dec. 12 draws near.

Governor Mark Carney though is not giving an explicit answer as to where interest rates are going in the next couple of weeks.

“It’s all about nuance and emphasis,” Philip Shaw, Investec economist said.

Carney, however, was almost certain to recognize a weaker global and domestic outlook in the economy, but rate cuts are not on his cards as of date. He is due to step down at the end of January next year.

Britain’s central bank has not followed the U.S. Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank by cutting rates to alleviate the global economic slowdown sparked by the U.S.-China trade war.

British inflation, meanwhile, is close to BoE’s target at 2% and its recent forecasts on Thursday could go higher over the next two to three years, which is the time BoE thinks that rate rises will be put to action.