Bank of England expected to hold interest rates in tight decision

The Bank's Bailey could cast the deciding vote on interest rates.

The Bank of England is expected to hold interest rates at four per cent despite some City forecasters suggesting that the votes of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) could tilt towards a 25 basis point cut.

City traders believe the Bank will keep interest rates on hold to curb high inflation , which is nearly double the Bank’s two per cent rate.

Market data appears to suggest that there is still an open possibility of an interest rate cut, with around a quarter chance of borrowing costs being lowered.

Inflation held steady at 3.8 per cent in the last official publication by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which was 0.2 percentage points lower than expected.

Core inflation fell compared to data for the month