A close-run thing on inflation
THE Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) split 5-4 when it decided to keep interest rates at 6.0% at the beginning of August, the minutes revealed this week. Four members on the MPC wanted to raise interest rates by a quarter-point. Four voted with Eddie George, the Bank's governor, to keep rates on hold. The decision was one of the closest since the MPC was set up just over three years ago. A flurry of economic figures released this week tended to support the majority line. But with so close a call in August, the next meeting, due in early September, could go either way.
This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “A close-run thing on inflation”
From the August 19th 2000 edition
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