“Bank of England governor Mark Carney has overhauled the Bank’s interest rate policy to reflect falling unemployment and the economic recovery,” a BBC News online article wrote yesterday.
“He said the Bank’s forward guidance policy ‘is working’ and had helped to secure growth. The Bank’s rate policy will now be determined not just by unemployment, but by a wider range of indicators. But Mr Carney warned the recovery was not secure and that when rates rose, they would do so only ‘gradually’.
However, investors took this as an indication that rates could rise next year, sending the pound higher on the money markets.
Introducing the Bank’s forward guidance policy last August, Mr Carney said that the Bank would not consider raising interest rates from their current low of 0.5% until unemployment had fallen to 7% or below. He said the policy had reduced uncertainty and encouraged businesses to hire and spend. ‘Forward guidance is working – expected interest rates have remained low even as the economy has recovered strongly, uncertainty about interest rates has fallen, and most importantly, UK businesses have understood the message,’ the governor said.” Read the full article here. | Raymond Matt, CFP, CLU, TEP, CHS
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