In the first Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting of 2024, a majority of members once again voted to hold the UK base rate at 5.25%. This final decision is no great surprise, and tallies with general market expectation. However, the three-way split vote is notable: the first such result at an MPC meeting since 2008. With two members of the committee voting to raise the base rate and one voting to cut, a general sentiment of economic uncertainty prevails. Yet UK savers should not expect the BOE to resist global trends or domestic pressure for very long. Many economists now expect inflation to fall below the standard 2% benchmark by April, after which we’re more likely to see rate cuts.
Looking ahead to the rest of this calendar year, the abiding consensus from UK financial analysts has been that we should expect rate cuts from the Bank of England (BOE). While that remains the expectation, a surprise rise in inflation in December 2023 called into question how quickly these cuts might be enacted.
Find out more
To help you navigate an uncertain financial landscape, we’re running our 2024 in Cash webinar series from next week! These sessions will be hosted by Insignis Cash CEO Giles Hutson and content manager Oliver Kiddell.
Our first session (Wednesday 7th February) will introduce cash savers to the financial markets and cover the basics of banking risk, cash flow and the interest rate cycle: register your attendance here.
Our second session (Thursday 8th February) aims to help financial advisers discern more specialist areas of identifying counterparties, liquidity management and finding great returns for clients: register your attendance here.
We hope to see you there.