The Bank of England must contend with a slowdown in Britain's economy but also stubborn inflation pressures when it considers whether to cut interest rates in early February as well as its message about the outlook for the rest of the year.

Employers are cutting jobs and raising prices to offset tax increases, with wages still growing too fast for policymakers’ comfort

The fall in the headline rate of inflation from 2.6 percent to 2.5 percent was unexpected and positive news for the Chancellor Rachel Reeves.

Alan Taylor, the most recently appointed member of the Bank's monetary policy committee (MPC) said the UK is 'in the last half mile on inflation' and called for a pre-emptive cut

Inflation is stuck above the BoE's 2% target and looks set to rise further while the economy has stagnated since the middle of 2024, offering conflicting signals for the central bank's rate-setters.

A weaker UK economy is expected to prompt the Bank of England to accelerate interest rate cuts; Goldman Sachs predicts up to six reductions by the end of next year. The investment bank’s analysts think that as inflationary pressures continue and economic growth slows,

Markets are greatly underestimating the likelihood that the Bank of England will need to speed up the pace of interest rate cuts, Goldman Sachs has argued. They forecast that UK interest rates could drop to 3.