Pound Rises as BOE Says Time for a Rate Increase Is Approaching
- Currency traders correct an `overly dovish interpretation'
- McCafferty again alone in voting for immediate rate increase
BOE Holds Steady on Interest Rate, Economic Outlook
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The pound advanced, approaching its strongest level in three weeks against the euro, after Bank of England policy makers said China’s slowdown hasn’t shaken their conviction that the time for the first U.K. interest-rate increase since 2007 is coming nearer.
Sterling gained versus all except two of its 16 major peers as BOE officials said in minutes of their policy meeting that the economy’s prospects are positive. The nine-member Monetary Policy Committee voted 8-1 this week to keep its benchmark interest rate at a record-low 0.5 percent, with Ian McCafferty again the lone dissenter. U.K. government bonds halted a two-day decline.