The Bank of England has finally paused its run of interest rates rises, with the Monetary Policy Committee holding rates at 5.25%. The end of 14 consecutive hikes, although only just: the MPC voted 5 to 4 in favour. BofE Governor Andrew Bailey was among the five…

The MPC nonetheless warns of tight monetary policy for the foreseeable:

“The MPC will continue to monitor closely indications of persistent inflationary pressures and resilience in the economy as a whole, including the tightness of labour market conditions and the behaviour of wage growth and services price inflation. Monetary policy will need to be sufficiently restrictive for sufficiently long to return inflation to the 2% target sustainably in the medium term, in line with the Committee’s remit. Further tightening in monetary policy would be required if there were evidence of more persistent inflationary pressures.”

The tide is turning…