Robert Wood, of Bank of America Merrill Lynch, said that the Bank of England appeared “to be panicking as inflation hits a peak just as the ECB did in 2011” Peter Macdiarmid/GettyMost economists expect the Bank of England to raise interest rates in November for the first time in a decade, but they also believe that it will be making a mistake. A survey of 50 economists by Reuters found that 31 think that the Bank will increase rates at its next policy meeting, compared with only three of 59 polled in September. Nevertheless, 35 of 47 respondents said that now was not the right time. Sonali Punhani, at Credit Suisse, claimed that the Bank had “misdiagnosed the amount of slack and growth potential in the UK economy”; Elizabeth Martins, at HSBC, described the thinking as perhaps “a little premature”. Robert Wood, at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, compared a rate rise now with the European…

Source: The Times September 20, 2017 23:03 UTC