The Bank of England will be forced to cut interest rates at least four times this year to boost flagging economic growth, according to economists polled by The Times. The majority of the 51 economists taking part in The Times’s eighth annual economists survey said the base rate will fall to at least 3.75 per cent in the year ahead, from 4.75 per cent, implying four quarter-point rate cuts. In the last survey, a majority of respondents turned out to be correct when they forecast that the Bank would lower borrowing costs twice in 2024. • From landslide to zero growth: Rachel Reeves, Newsmaker of the YearThe survey’s predictions go beyond the two rate reductions priced in by financial markets for 2025 after traders

Source: The Times January 01, 2025 19:02 UTC