EUR/GBP rises sharply to near 0.8250 after BoE holds rates steady at 4.75%

The EUR/GBP pair climbs to near 0.8260 in Thursday’s North American session. The cross gains after the Bank of England’s (BoE) monetary policy announcement in which it leaves interest rates unchanged at 4.75%.

The BoE was already expected to hold its key borrowing rates steady. However, the vote split came in at 6-3 against 8-1, which suggested that more policymakers were in favor of cutting interest rates. The scenario resulted in selling pressure on the Pound Sterling (GBP). BoE external Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) members Swati Dhingra and Alan Taylor, and Deputy Governor Dave Ramsden proposed a 25-basis points (bps) interest rate reduction.

A majority of BoE officials voted for leaving interest rates steady as United Kingdom (UK) price pressures have accelerated in the past two months amid strong wage growth.

BoE Governor Andrew Bailey refrained from guiding the likely interest rate cuts next year. “Due to heightened uncertainty in the economy, we can't commit to when or by how much we will cut rates in 2025,” he said.

Going forward, investors will focus on the UK Retail Sales data for November, which will be released on Friday. On a monthly basis, UK Retail Sales are estimated to have grown by 0.5% after a 0.7% decline in October.

Meanwhile, the Euro (EUR) outperforms its major peers on Thursday even though European Central Bank (ECB) officials guide further policy easing in 2025. ECB policymakers support more interest rate cuts as Eurozone inflation is broadly under control and potential risks to economic growth have increased due to incoming tariff policies by United States (US) President-elect Donald Trump.