Today, at 12:00 pm GMT the Bank of England (BOE) will publish its monetary policy decision. It’s not just a policy statement either. It’s “Super Thursday”.
“Super Thursday” refers to the quarterly simultaneous release of the BOE monetary policy statement, Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting minutes, and the Inflation Report. Those could all be some of the major catalysts for the pound’s forex moves. The icing on the cake and what makes this Super Thursday super is the BOE Inflation Report, which contains more details on the central bank’s growth and inflation outlook and provides clues on what policymakers are planning next.
Dovish comments could indicate that monetary stimulus might stay in place for much longer while hawkish estimates could suggest that the central bank is gearing up to tighten soon. Pressure is mounting on increasing the rates in May.
The BOE last November raised its interest rates for the first time since 2007, pushing it from 0.25% to 0.50%
More importantly, Governor Mark Carney confirmed speculations of two more rate hikes from the central bank, saying that “We in fact need those two additional rate increases in order to get that return of inflation to target.” The question is how fast BOE will move towards tightening the market.
