Calls for ‘assertive and hawkish’ BoE response to tax cuts

LONDON: Bank of England (BoE) governor Andrew Bailey is under intensifying pressure to serve as a line of defence for rattled financial markets amid calls to hike interest rates aggressively, perhaps as soon as this week, after the new government’s tax-cutting spree.

Economists at JPMorgan Chase & Co and Citigroup Inc now expect the central bank to lift rates by 75 basis points (bps) at its Nov 3 meeting. Traders are pricing in a 100-bps salvo and some see another massive increase in December.