Ashton Whiteley: BoE Rate Hike in May Likely

    SHANGHAI, CHINA, February 17, 2018 /24-7PressRelease/ -- According to a recent survey by Shanghai, China based investment house Ashton Whiteley, interest rates will more than likely be raised in May of this year, sooner than was initially anticipated.

A vast majority of economists polled after the BoE held its policy meeting and press conference earlier this month said that the BoE would raise interest rates to 0.75 percent in May when it releases its next quarterly inflation report.

In an earlier poll, only a small portion of economists predicted a rate hike in the second quarter.

Although the central bank's Monetary Policy Committee voted last week to leave the interest rates unchanged at 0.5 percent, Governor Mark Carney stressed the need to keep a strong hold on inflation.

Inflation soared when the pound devalued after the UK voted to leave the European Union in June 2016, making imports more costly.

According to the official data released this week, January inflation remained well above the BoE's target of 2 percent at its near six-year high of 3.0 percent. Ashton Whiteley economists expect UK inflation to average at around 2.5 percent in 2018 and drop to 2.1 percent in 2019.

The BoE first hiked interest rates for the first time in over a decade last November, going against warnings from many economists that to do so would be a mistake.

Ashton Whiteley economists say that, according to their recent poll, there will likely be another increase of 25 basis points in the next quarter. This increase will coincide with anticipated tightening of monetary policy by other central banks after the 2008 financial crisis.

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