Bank of England: A hawkish twist- Danske Bank

According to analysts from Danske Bank, today the Bank of England made a hawkish twist despite keeping monetary policy unchanged. 

Key Quotes: 

“In line with our expectations the Bank of England (BoE) made no policy changes at its March meeting and reiterated its neutral stance by repeating it could move ‘in either direction’”.

“There was a hawkish twist. First, Kristin Forbes (a known hawk) voted for a March hike. Note, though, that she is leaving the BoE on 30 June 2017, which makes her hawkish stance less important. Second, the statement revealed that ‘some members noted that it would take relatively little further upside news…for them to consider that a more immediate reduction in policy support might be warranted’”

“We still expect the BoE to remain on hold for the next 12 months. While we think it is unlikely the BoE will tighten monetary policy in a time of elevated political uncertainty, we think we need to see substantially slower growth and/or higher unemployment before easing becomes likely again. Also, BoE Governor Mark Carney has said that one of the reasons the UK has been resilient to Brexit uncertainties so far is due to the significant monetary easing from the BoE.”