The Bank of England went ahead with a third consecutive rate hold at 4.00%, meeting the expectations of nearly all economists and in line with the ~75–80% odds that markets were assigning to a hold. The vote split of 5–4 marks a dovish turn from the 7–2 breakdown of the December announcement and against expectations for a 6–3 split. Doves Dhingra and Taylor, both external members of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), were today joined by Breeden and Ramsden, both being BoE Dep Govs (Financial Stability, and Markets and Banking, respectively), in support of a reduction today. Despite the more dovish tilt to today’s ... (full story)