英格蘭銀行降息一碼至5.5%！ - 銀行

Ref. http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/news/2007/156.htm

News Release
Bank of England Reduces Bank Rate by 0.25 Percentage Points to 5.5%
6 December 2007

The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee today voted to reduce the
official Bank Rate paid on commercial bank reserves by 0.25 percentage points
to 5.5%.

Although output in the United Kingdom has expanded at a brisk pace for the
past two years, there are now signs that growth has begun to slow.
Forward-looking surveys of households and businesses suggest spending is
moderating, broadly in line with the projections contained in the November
Inflation Report. But conditions in financial markets have deteriorated and a
tightening in the supply of credit to households and businesses is in train,
posing downside risks to the outlook for both output and inflation further
ahead.

CPI inflation was 2.1% in October. Higher energy and food prices are expected
to keep inflation above the target in the short term. Although upside risks
to inflation remain, which the Committee will continue to monitor carefully,
slowing demand growth should ease the pressures on supply capacity, bringing
inflation back to target in the medium term.

Against that background, the Committee judged that a decrease in Bank Rate of
0.25 percentage points to 5.5% was necessary to meet the 2% target for CPI
inflation in the medium term.

The minutes of the meeting will be published at 9.30am on Wednesday 19
December.

Note to Editors

The previous change in Bank Rate was an increase of 0.25 percentage points to
5.75% on 5 July 2007.

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