Bank eases off the brakes, but may not halt hikes until 4.50%

The Bank of England followed the Fed by slowing the pace of interest rate hikes from 75 basis points (bps) in November to 50bps hike today as widely expected, which took rates from 3.00% to 3.50%. But unlike the hawkish Fed, the Bank sounded a touch dovish. Even so, we think it may yet raise rates to 4.50% early next year before cutting them back to 3.00% in 2024. We will be discussing the decisions of the Bank of England, the Fed and the ECB in a “Drop In” webinar at 3pm GMT today. (Register here.)