###/VIEW: Bank desk views on today's BoE........>

BOE: ###/VIEW: Bank desk views on today's BoE decision/QIR (1/2)

- Barclays: Expect May MPC meeting to deliver a "hawkish hold" as it reiterates

its commitment to medium-term tightening.

- BNP Paribas: We feel the central bank will vote to keep rates on hold given

the recent economic weakness, but retain a hawkish bias.

- Danske Bank: We think the hike will be postponed to the August meeting, which

would give the committee more time to see whether the weakness is temporary or

not.

- JPMorgan: Our economists expect that the vote will be 9-0. Given the recent

weakening in the data the dominant message is likely to be about the near term,

i.e. signaling no urgency to hike.

- Lloyds: While we agree that the recent run of soft data releases has reduced

the urgency for a hike, and therefore expect the Bank to stand pat, we still

believe that an increase this year remains likely.

- MUFG: We believe there is a strong possibility that the MPC will indeed be

keen to keep alive the prospect of a rate hike coming as soon August.