News — Bank of Englan
Bank of England's strategy revealed
So at long last its official – the Bank of England’s ‘forward guidance’ policy is now in the public domain meaning that UK base rates are as good as fixed at 0.5% for the foreseeable future, assuming unemployment does not fall to 7%, which remains highly unlikely in the medium term. Although the ‘gap’ between the current unemployment rate of 7.8% and the likely automatic intervention rate of 7% seems relatively small beer, the last four years have seen unemployment remain stuck between 7.8% and 8.4%, and the last time unemployment was below 7% was back in the first quarter of 2009.