Bank of England to stay on hold as it weighs Brexit outlook

The Bank of England is looking to pause from making rates decisions as it weighs up Brexit’s outlook on Thursday. Flashes of hopes rose after the recently concluded election favoring a graceful Brexit but Prime Minister Boris Johnson seems to dim the bright outlook as he revives fears of a disorderly exit from the European Union.

Economists predict that the BoE will announce later that it will keep its interest rates at 0.75%. Most of them think there will be a repeat of November’s 7-2 vote by policymakers in favor if no change.

However, the BoE might have other plans come 2020. They can lower rates, keep them on hold, or finally raise the rates, all depending on how the Brexit saga unfolds.

“It’s pretty murky. Things could be very uncertain in the second half of 2020,” James Smith, an economist with ING, said.

“As plenty of Brexit uncertainty still surrounds the 2020 outlook, we think the BoE is likely to retain its dovish bias into next year,” Allan Monks, an economist with JP Morgan, said.