MNI POLICY: BOE To Proceed As Planned Despite Elections

The Bank of England’s June meeting is likely to go ahead as planned despite general elections called for July 4, with precedent showing that Monetary Policy Committee votes have been held in the midst of political campaigning.

While in 2010 when an election was called for May 6 the Bank delayed a decision which had been slated for the same day until May 10, on other occasions barring a direct clash it has proceeded as planned despite national votes. The May 2017 MPC meeting was held a week after the formal dissolution of parliament. On that occasion, the MPC voted 7-1 to maintain Bank rate at 0.25%.

This June's MPC meeting is currently set for June 20.

Statute calls for eight BOE meetings a year, with a least one in every 10 week period. That would allow a maximum delay of any meeting until two weeks after the vote, though given that the next meeting is scheduled for two weeks before July 4, it is more likely the Bank will go ahead as planned and take its decision based on incoming data.

While the BOE is expected to reduce rates at some point in the summer, inflation data released on Wednesday saw markets push the timing of the first cut back to August.