The Bank of England should lower interest rates for the second time this year at its meeting on Thursday, according to The Times shadow monetary policy committee.
Seven members of the nine-member shadow MPC voted in favour of lowering interest rates by at least a quarter of a percentage point, or 25 basis points, to revive consumer and business confidence amid weaker than expected inflation and a worsening jobs market.
The Bank has kept borrowing costs at 5 per cent since a quarter-point cut in August. Its future interest rate decisions could be complicated by Rachel Reeves’s near-term cash injection into the economy, funded by more borrowing.
The chancellor boosted public spending and investment by £70 billion in the budget last week, which the Office