41 minutes agoDearbail Jordan & Nick EdserBusiness reporters, BBC NewsThe Bank of England has halved its growth forecast for this year as it cut interest rates to the lowest level for more than 18 months. The economy is now expected to grow by 0.75% in 2025, the Bank said, down from its previous estimate of 1.5%.The government has made growing the economy one of its key aims. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer told the BBC he was “not satisfied with growth” and the downgraded forecast “just spurs us on”.The new forecast came as the Bank cut interest rates to 4.5% from 4.75%. Its governor, Andrew Bailey, said that rates remain on a downward path.Mr Bailey said the Bank expected to be able to cut rates further “but we will have to judge meeting by meeting, how far and how fast”.”We live in an uncertain world, and the road ahead will have bumps on it,” he added.After the rates announcement, the pound slumped, before regaining ground.Speaking to the BBC, Mr Bailey stressed that the Bank needs to remain “gradual and careful” when continuing to cut rates because “there is a lot more uncertainty” and because of the predicted rise in inflation.While it cut its growth forecast for this year, the Bank upgraded its predictions for both 2026 and 2027. The economy is now expected to grow by 1.5% in both of those years, the Bank said, up from 1.25%.However, it also predicted that higher energy and water bills would push up inflation “quite sharply” later this year, and warned there were a number of factors that could affect inflation including possible trade tar …
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[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nn41 minutes agoDearbail Jordan & Nick EdserBusiness reporters, BBC NewsThe Bank of England has halved its growth forecast for this year as it cut interest rates to the lowest level for more than 18 months. The economy is now expected to grow by 0.75% in 2025, the Bank said, down from its previous estimate of 1.5%.The government has made growing the economy one of its key aims. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer told the BBC he was “not satisfied with growth” and the downgraded forecast “just spurs us on”.The new forecast came as the Bank cut interest rates to 4.5% from 4.75%. Its governor, Andrew Bailey, said that rates remain on a downward path.Mr Bailey said the Bank expected to be able to cut rates further “but we will have to judge meeting by meeting, how far and how fast”.”We live in an uncertain world, and the road ahead will have bumps on it,” he added.After the rates announcement, the pound slumped, before regaining ground.Speaking to the BBC, Mr Bailey stressed that the Bank needs to remain “gradual and careful” when continuing to cut rates because “there is a lot more uncertainty” and because of the predicted rise in inflation.While it cut its growth forecast for this year, the Bank upgraded its predictions for both 2026 and 2027. The economy is now expected to grow by 1.5% in both of those years, the Bank said, up from 1.25%.However, it also predicted that higher energy and water bills would push up inflation “quite sharply” later this year, and warned there were a number of factors that could affect inflation including possible trade tar …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]
