BOE: Rates Held at 5.25% - Mann Votes For Hold, But No Pivot In Guidance

The Bank of England's MPC voted to maintain Bank Rate at 5.25% with an 8-1 majority.

• However, Governor Bailey noted in an attached statement that "we're not yet at the point where we can cut interest rates" although he accepted we are moving in the right direction.
• Looking at the vote split, Catherine Mann voted for something other than a hike for the first time since November 2021, voting to keep rates unchanged. 
• Jonathan Haskel also switched from his hike vote to unchanged, bringing the last of the three December 2023 hawkish outliers into the pack.
• Swati Dhingra again voted for a cut, saying Bank Rate needed to be less restrictive "now".
• The policy guidance was unchanged, with the MPC pointing to the need for policy to be restrictive for sufficiently long to return inflation to 2%, which, since November, they have judged to be an "extended period of time".