Bank of England Governor expects interest to fall

Andrew Bailey has said he expects interest rates to come down, but he has been less specific about suggesting it will be a gradual process. Falling inflation encourages him.

However, there is some less encouraging news for borrowers.  Bailey noted that whilst he does expect rates to fall, they will never return to the low point we have been used to for many years.  His 'best guess' was that 3% appears to be where it will settle over the next decade.  Yes, you read the correctly, decade.

This is no real surprise; the conditions that caused interest rates to fall to their lowest point of 0.5% in 2009 and not rise above 1% until 2022 were significant economic shocks.  Two of them. You could argue we have had shocks in recent times, but none as big as those many years ago.

Most (80%) economists recently polled by Reuters suggest the rate will be reduced one more time this year, probably in November.

Time will tell, but a nice Christmas present from the Bank of England would be another cut to interest rates before the end of 2024.