UK public’s expectations for interest rate hike wanes in May: Bank of England

(Reuters) – The proportion of Britons who think interest rates are likely to rise over the next 12 months has fallen, according to a Bank of England survey published on Friday.

The BoE said 51 percent of people polled between May 4 and 8 — before the central bank’s policy meeting on May 10 — thought rates were likely to rise, down from 58 percent in February.

Twenty-five percent said they had no idea how rates were likely to change over the next year — a record high.

A Reuters poll of economists published on Friday showed the BoE was expected to raise rates in August, but that call was hanging in the balance as policymakers await confirmation that Britain’s economy is past its early 2018 slowdown.

The public’s median expectation for inflation over the next 12 months remained steady at 2.9 percent, the BoE poll showed.

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