Breaking: BOE hikes policy rate by 50 bps to 3.5% as expected

Following its December policy meeting, the Bank of England (BoE) announced that it raised the policy rate by 50 basis points (bps) to 3.5% as expected.

The vote was 6-3 in favor of the rate decision. Two members, Tenreyro and Dhingra, voted to keep rates at 3% while Mann voted to raise it to 3.75%.

Follow our live coverage of the BoE policy announcements and the market reaction.

Market reaction

With the initial market reaction, Pound Sterling came under renewed selling pressure. As f writing, GBP/USD was trading at 1.2315, where it was down 0.85% on a daily basis.

Key takeaways from policy statement

"Majority of MPC judges further increases in bank rate may be required."

"MPC briefed on plans for Q1 2023 gilt sales, BOE will publish plan at 1800 GMT on Friday."

"MPC content with pace of corporate bond unwind, which if sustained will permit earlier unwind than first anticipated."

"Government autumn statement measures lower BOE's Q2 2023 CPI forecast by about 0.75 percentage points."

"Q4 GDP seen -0.1% QoQ (November forecast: -0.3% QoQ)."

"Latest MPC projections suggest CPI inflation has reached its peak, expected to remain very high in coming months."

"Autumn statement measures have a small impact on CPI at one-, two- and three-year horizons."

"BOE's Mann: 75 bp rate rise needed to lean against inflation psychology, price and wage pressure greater than in nov forecst."

"BOE's Tenreyro and Dhingra: 3% bank rate more than sufficient to bring CPI back to target, no strong case to tighten on risk management grounds."

"Labour market remains tight, evidence of inflationary pressures that justified a further forceful BOE response."