British inflation is broadly declining in line with the Bank of England's forecasts, and next month's numbers look on track for a sharp drop towards the central bank's 2% target, Governor Andrew Bailey said on Wednesday. "We're actually pretty much on track for where we thought we would be," Bailey said at an event in Washington hosted by the Institute of International Finance. "I expect that next month's number will show quite a strong drop," he added. Official figures earlier on Wednesday showed annual consumer price inflation fell to 3.2% in March from 3.4% in February, a slightly...
Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey hinted that the UK might be able to lower interest rates before the US, saying inflation dynamics in the two economies are diverging. Bailey said on Tuesday that there is more "demand-led inflation pressure" in the US than seen in the UK after markets were spooked by surprisingly strong price data in America last week. He said there is "strong evidence" of UK price pressures retreating. "The dynamics of inflation are rather different between Europe — I mean Europe geographically now — and in the US," he said in an interview with the...
Federal Reserve (Fed) Chairman Jerome Powell participates in a fireside chat about economic trends in North America at the Wilson Center's Washington Forum in Washington, DC. Powell said that the U.S. economy's performance has been quite robust. He added that recent data indicates a lack of significant progress on inflation this year. Despite ongoing strength, Powell noted that the labour market is transitioning towards a better equilibrium. Key Quotes The performance of the US has been "quite strong" Recent data shows lack of further progress on inflation this year The labour market...
The European Central Bank held interest rates steady for a fifth meeting, while sending its clearest signal yet that cooling inflation will soon allow it to commence cuts. The deposit rate was left at a record-high 4%, as overwhelmingly predicted by a Bloomberg poll in which only one of 62 economists saw a decrease. But the Governing Council added wording to its accompanying statement flagging a reduction, should updated economic forecasts in June signal sufficient space to do so. "If the Governing Council's updated assessment of the inflation outlook, the...
Even before U.S. inflation data on Wednesday came in hotter than expected, Federal Reserve officials had begun worrying last month that progress might have stalled and a longer period of tight monetary policy could be needed to tame the pace of price increases. "Some" officials at the Fed's March 19-20 meeting even raised the possibility that the current 5.25%-5.50% policy rate was "less restrictive than desired, which could add momentum to aggregate demand and put upward pressure on inflation," according to minutes of the meeting released on Wednesday, the sort of logic that could be used...
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank is prepared to tighten policy further if appropriate.
"We will make decisions about the extent of any additional policy and how...
Even before U.S. inflation data on Wednesday came in hotter than expected, Federal Reserve officials had begun worrying last month that progress might have stalled and a longer period of tight...