EU referendum: Markets expect Bank of England to cut interest rates after vote for Brexit
Leading economists have predicted the Bank of England will need to cut interest rates this summer to prop up the UK economy in the wake of the vote to leave the European Union.
This morning, governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney told markets the Bank stood ready to do whatever is needed to support financial stability over the coming hours including £250bn of emergency liquidity.
Carney has previously said the Bank will face a difficult trade-off between containing rising inflation and ensuring financial stability if the UK voted for Brexit.
Goldman Sachs this morning issued a note forecasting a cut in the Bank's headline rate from 0.5 per cent to 0.25 per cent this August.
[custom id="161"]
Other analysts, including Neil Williams, chief economist at Hermes, Howard Archer at IHS Global and Paul Hollingsworth at Capital Economics agreed with the view that the monetary policy committee (MPC) would probably need to unlock further monetary stimulus – either in the form of a cut to interest rates or an extra bout of quantitative easing.
Markets have also moved to such an extent over the past 24 hours they are now pricing in a cut in the Bank's base rate to 0.25 per cent in the coming months. Capital Economics' Hollingsworth added a cut to zero was not an impossibility and any change in interest rates could be followed by an extra bout of quantitative easing.
Read more: FTSE 100 plummets in response to Brexit vote
Neither has been ruled out by the Bank of England, whose next meeting of the MPC, which sets the policy on interest rates and quantitative easing, is scheduled for 14 July. At the same time as he warned Brexit could spark a recession last month, Carney also said he could call a meeting of the MPC at any given time – potentially paving the way for an emergency meeting at some point during the next three weeks.