By Paul Hannon
The next move in the Bank of England's key interest rate will be a cut, but it remains unclear when the decision to lower borrowing costs will be taken, Gov. Andrew Bailey said Tuesday.
The U.K.'s central bank left its key interest rate at a 16-year high earlier this month, but signaled that it is getting closer to a cut. Two of the Monetary Policy Committee's nine members voted for a rate cut, but Bailey sided with the majority.
"The next move will be a cut," Bailey said in answer to a question following a speech at the London School of Economics.
However, he said the timing of that cut was uncertain, with policy makers yet to resolve the question of how long borrowing costs will need to remain restrictive in order to tame inflation.
The BOE's policy makers next meet in late June, and then in early August.
The International Monetary Fund Tuesday said the U.K.'s central bank should cut its key rate two or three times this year, and warned that waiting too long to lower borrowing costs could "stall or even reverse the recovery" in economic activity that began in the first three months of the year.
"The IMF gave us this great wisdom: don't go too soon, and don't go too late," he said.
Write to Paul Hannon at paul.hannon@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
05-21-24 1453ET
