Reuters Poll: Bank of England to raise bank rate to 0.25% on December 16

26 out of 47 economists surveyed by Reuters see the Bank of England (BoE) hiking its policy rate to 0.25% on December 16. The October poll showed that the majority of economists was expecting the BoE to raise its rate in the first quarter of 2022.

Economists forecast the UK inflation to average 4.1% in the last quarter of 2021, 4.2% in the first quarter of 2022 and 4.2% in the second quarter. Finally, the UK economy is expected to expand by 5.0% in 2022 and 2.1% in 2023.

Market reaction

The British pound showed no immediate reaction to this headline and the GBP/USD pair was last seen rising 0.15% on a daily basis at 1.3390.