BoE’s Bailey warns inflation risks tilted to the upside
Bank of England (BoE) Governor Andrew Bailey said that the central bank is “watching the extent of inflation pass-through,” while acknowledging that inflation risks are tilted to the upside, after the BoE raised interest rates to 4% on Thursday.
Bailey added that future decisions hinge on how fast inflation edges lower towards the BoE’s 2% inflation target. He said that a resolution of the US-Iran conflict “would bring limited relief from inflation.”
Key highlights:
The BoE is watching the extent of inflation pass-through.
Inflation risks are on the upside, which could change
The future decisions hinge on how fast inflation comes down.
Peace moves would bring limited relief from inflation
Inflation is baked in currently due to the energy price cap
Pound Sterling Price Today
The table below shows the percentage change of British Pound (GBP) against listed major currencies today. British Pound was the strongest against the Australian Dollar.
| USD | EUR | GBP | JPY | CAD | AUD | NZD | CHF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | 0.12% | 0.04% | -0.30% | 0.27% | 0.77% | 0.30% | -0.14% | |
| EUR | -0.12% | -0.08% | -0.43% | 0.15% | 0.64% | 0.17% | -0.26% | |
| GBP | -0.04% | 0.08% | -0.36% | 0.23% | 0.72% | 0.27% | -0.19% | |
| JPY | 0.30% | 0.43% | 0.36% | 0.57% | 1.07% | 0.58% | 0.15% | |
| CAD | -0.27% | -0.15% | -0.23% | -0.57% | 0.50% | 0.02% | -0.42% | |
| AUD | -0.77% | -0.64% | -0.72% | -1.07% | -0.50% | -0.45% | -0.92% | |
| NZD | -0.30% | -0.17% | -0.27% | -0.58% | -0.02% | 0.45% | -0.42% | |
| CHF | 0.14% | 0.26% | 0.19% | -0.15% | 0.42% | 0.92% | 0.42% |
The heat map shows percentage changes of major currencies against each other. The base currency is picked from the left column, while the quote currency is picked from the top row. For example, if you pick the British Pound from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the US Dollar, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent GBP (base)/USD (quote).
BoE FAQs
The Bank of England (BoE) decides monetary policy for the United Kingdom. Its primary goal is to achieve ‘price stability’, or a steady inflation rate of 2%. Its tool for achieving this is via the adjustment of base lending rates. The BoE sets the rate at which it lends to commercial banks and banks lend to each other, determining the level of interest rates in the economy overall. This also impacts the value of the Pound Sterling (GBP).
When inflation is above the Bank of England’s target it responds by raising interest rates, making it more expensive for people and businesses to access credit. This is positive for the Pound Sterling because higher interest rates make the UK a more attractive place for global investors to park their money. When inflation falls below target, it is a sign economic growth is slowing, and the BoE will consider lowering interest rates to cheapen credit in the hope businesses will borrow to invest in growth-generating projects – a negative for the Pound Sterling.
In extreme situations, the Bank of England can enact a policy called Quantitative Easing (QE). QE is the process by which the BoE substantially increases the flow of credit in a stuck financial system. QE is a last resort policy when lowering interest rates will not achieve the necessary result. The process of QE involves the BoE printing money to buy assets – usually government or AAA-rated corporate bonds – from banks and other financial institutions. QE usually results in a weaker Pound Sterling.
Quantitative tightening (QT) is the reverse of QE, enacted when the economy is strengthening and inflation starts rising. Whilst in QE the Bank of England (BoE) purchases government and corporate bonds from financial institutions to encourage them to lend; in QT, the BoE stops buying more bonds, and stops reinvesting the principal maturing on the bonds it already holds. It is usually positive for the Pound Sterling.
Author
Christian Borjon Valencia
FXStreet
Markets analyst, news editor, and trading instructor with over 14 years of experience across FX, commodities, US equity indices, and global macro markets.
