- Ian McCafferty, MPC member
The nine-member Monetary Policy Committee of the BoE voted 1-0-8 to keep its benchmark interest rate at a record-low 0.5%. The only member who voted for an immediate increase by 25 basis points was Ian McCafferty. September's MPC minutes continued to sound more dovish as downside risks to global economic activity and the inflation outlook have increased since the August Inflation Report. The BoE also stuck to its view that consumer prices will start to pick up around the turn of the year, though it noted that a drop in oil prices had increased uncertainty about the near-term outlook. Minutes also showed that there was considerable scepticism about how the strength of the Sterling would feed through to the UK inflation. However, the central bank retained its positive outlook on the UK economy's prospects, despite the concerns over China and the global economic growth.
Even though the BoE lowered its estimate for the third-quarter growth to 0.6%, down from expected 0.7%, the minutes also said that the forward looking indicators had continued to point to steady near-term growth in aggregate demand. At the meeting, the MPC also voted unanimously to keep the asset-purchase facility at 375 billion pounds.
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