B1242 words1:27News Report American AccentPublished Jun 18, 2026 · Updated Jun 18, 2026

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The Bank of England has decided to keep interest rates on hold at 3.75 percent.

The monetary policy committee voted seven to two in favour of leaving rates unchanged.

Most policymakers believed it would be too early to raise rates because of economic uncertainty.

The Bank has also lowered its forecast for inflation during the rest of the year.

It predicted that inflation would rise to just over 3.25 percent by the end of the year.

This new forecast is lower than the one that was made in April.

Andrew Bailey, the governor of the Bank of England, warned that consumers should expect higher costs this year.

He said the conflict in the Middle East has created inflationary pressure on energy prices.

Bailey stated there was still some inflationary pressure in the pipeline, even though oil prices have been falling.

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The decision was announced on the same day as new employment data from the United Kingdom.

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The unemployment rate fell to 4.9 percent in the three months leading up to April.

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However, the number of job vacancies dropped to its lowest level in five years as businesses reduced their recruitment.

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Deutsche Bank expects that interest rates will remain unchanged for the rest of the year.

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Their chief economist for the United Kingdom, Sanjay Raja, said there were important lessons from today's monetary policy decision.

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The economic uncertainty caused by the Middle East conflict continues to influence the Bank's approach to setting rates.

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Bank of England leaves interest rates on hold and lowers inflation forecast amid Middle East...

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