David McNamara: Bank of England on the cusp of rate cuts, amid brightening UK outlook

Governor Andrew Bailey noted there would likely be a need for rate cuts over the coming quarters and these could be to a greater degree than currently priced into market rates

Andrew Bailey, governor of the Bank of England, struck a dovish tone.

Last week’s Bank of England meeting was an important staging post towards a first UK rate cut this summer.

To recap, the bank published its monetary policy statement and quarterly Monetary Policy Report. The vote split on its rate-setting committee was 7:2 in favour of no change to rates, but this still represented a dovish shift, with two MPC members now voting for a rate cut compared to just one at its previous meeting in March.