Deloitte's UK economist comments on today's interest rate decision

Commenting on the latest interest rate decision, published today by the Bank of England, Debapratim De, UK economist at Deloitte, said:

“Given growing expectations of a rate cut this month, the overwhelming vote in favour of holding rates comes as a surprise. The post-election bounce in business sentiment, also reflected in our Deloitte CFO Survey, seems to have bought the Bank some time to assess how the real economy responds to a reduction in policy uncertainty.

“But, despite the rise in optimism, corporates continue to favour defensive strategies such as cost reduction over greater capital expenditure. Without a revival in demand, this improvement in sentiment may not translate into a pickup in activity.”

End

Notes to editors

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