British economic growth more broadly based

To no great surprise, last week’s meeting of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee proved to be a non-event, with UK interest rates left on hold at 0.5%.

It is clear from recent meeting minutes and speeches that the committee is taking comfort from signs that the economic recovery is maintaining its strong momentum. Indeed, over the course of last year, the UK economy experienced a marked improvement, growing by 1.7%, compared to just 0.3% in 2012.

However, when Mark Carney took over the reins at the Bank of England back in July, the positive macro signs were still at a tentative stage. A key concern within the committee was in relation to the upward moves in market rates and the risk this posed to the “emerging recovery”.