Is Andrew Bailey finally learning his lesson?

Last month the Bank of England announced its tenth rate rise in a row, taking interest rates to 4 per cent. At the time it was speculated that the BoE might end there: not only were rates now catching up with market expectations of where they would peak, but there seemed to be more agreement within the Monetary Policy Committee, based on the way its members were voting, that it was time to slow down. Their own report noted that, to keep hiking rates, the Bank would need to see ‘persistent pressures’ contributing to inflation.

But the Bank’s governor reminds us once again that nothing is off the table. 'I would caution against suggesting either that we are done with increasing the Bank rate, or that we will inevitably need to do more,' Bailey told the audience at a Brunswick Group event. ‘Some further increase in Bank rate may turn out to be appropriate, but nothing is decided.