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23 Feb 2016
Mixed signals keep UK rates on hold – Lloyds Bank
Adam Chester, Head of Economics at Lloyds Bank, suggests that reading the runes of the recent UK economic data has not been easy.
Key Quotes
“While international headwinds remain, domestic prospects remain solid – as evidenced by last week’s robust employment and retail sales readings. Amid all the supposed ‘doom and gloom’, UK employment is at a record high, discretionary incomes are rising (supported, by the drop in energy prices) and credit is easy to come by. No wonder, perhaps, that retail sales rebounded sharply last month, rising 2.3%.
Still, with UK inflation running at just 0.3%, and the international environment casting a cloud, the case for a rate rise has faded – a point that BoE Governor Mark Carney and other members of the UK rate setting committee are likely to expand on when they appear before the Treasury Select Committee on Tuesday.”
Key Quotes
“While international headwinds remain, domestic prospects remain solid – as evidenced by last week’s robust employment and retail sales readings. Amid all the supposed ‘doom and gloom’, UK employment is at a record high, discretionary incomes are rising (supported, by the drop in energy prices) and credit is easy to come by. No wonder, perhaps, that retail sales rebounded sharply last month, rising 2.3%.
Still, with UK inflation running at just 0.3%, and the international environment casting a cloud, the case for a rate rise has faded – a point that BoE Governor Mark Carney and other members of the UK rate setting committee are likely to expand on when they appear before the Treasury Select Committee on Tuesday.”