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Here comes the Bank of England...

Mike Bird   

Here comes the Bank of England...
Finance2 min read

sleeping asleep desk children kids

REUTERS

An ethnic minority student looks up as her classmates take naps on the desks during their lunch break at a primary school in Akqi county of Kizilsu Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region June 5, 2012.

The Bank of England's latest decision on interest rates is imminent, coming at 12 p.m BST (7 a.m. ET) and it's likely to bring no changes to the UK's monetary policy stance.

Analysts are overwhelmingly expecting the BoE's monetary policy committee (MPC) to hold its benchmark rate at 0.5%, the 79th month of without a change in rates.

There's not much expectation for a change in the number of votes for a hike, either. In August and September, MPC hawk Ian McCafferty voted for a modest 0.25 percentage point increase in Bank Rate.

For five months in 2014, McCafferty was joined by Martin Weale in pushing for higher rates, but all 9 members went back to voting to hold at the turn of 2015 when plunging oil prices started to send inflation south.

BoE chief economist Andy Haldane has recently been sounding dovish, suggesting that he's more likely to vote for a rate cut than a hike right now, while governor Mark Carney last made somewhat hawkish suggestions on rates three months ago.

What might be more interesting is the minutes, which could show the rate-setters' reactions to the Federal Reserve's decision not to hike interest rates in September, continued turmoil in emerging markets, and the current state of the British economy's growth.

We'll update you here as soon as it's all released.

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