The policy board of the central bank of the U.K. remained split on how to handle interest rates as inflation continues to rise while the economic recovery has failed to gain momentum, according to The Daily Telegraph. On Wednesday, the Bank of England published minutes from the May meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee that showed that group voted 6-3 to hold interest rates at a record low. The voting pattern was the same as the previous three meetings, with Andrew Sentance calling for a half-point increase in the benchmark interest rate as Spencer Dale and Martin Weale stuck to their support of a 25 basis-point rate hike.
The split vote came amid mixed reports on crucial measures of the current state of the economy. Inflation was recorded at a 30-month high in April of 4.5%, which is more than double the BOE’s target rate. However, at the same time the minutes showed policy makers were concerned about the uncertain outlook for the overall economy. Hetal Mehta of Daiwa Capital Markets said that given “the anemic economic growth recorded in Q1, it is no surprise that no additional members voted to increase rates.”
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