Most economists are expecting rates to be left unchanged when the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) announces its next decision on Thursday. It will be the MPC’s first time setting interest rates this year after delivering a cut before Christmas. Economists think that this inflation reading could be enough to encourage policymakers to keep rates on hold this month. This could be encouraging news to policymakers and another reason to keep rates on hold rather than deliver another cut. “Some of the MPC doves that favoured a cut in December still harbour some concerns around sticky wage growth and inflation.

Source: The Times February 01, 2026 09:10 UTC