London: The Bank of England is expected to keep interest rates steady despite slowing UK inflation, high prices and the looming British election to avoid a fallout, analysts said.
Ahead of the announcement at 1100 GMT, the Swiss National Bank cut interest rates immediately after becoming the first Western central bank to cut borrowing costs against rising inflation in March. Norway is freezing on Thursday.
The BoE is expected to hold the bond rate at a 16-year high of 5.25 percent after the regular monetary meeting.
Although British inflation fell to a three-year low of 2.0 percent in May, in line with the central bank’s target, analysts say the BoE is likely to cut rates ahead of the election to prevent bias.
“Even if inflation returns to the target, the BoE is not expected to cut rates,” said Manoj Ladwa, analyst at ARJ Capital.
“With the UK general election on July 4, traders expect the Bank to cut rates in August.”
