Pound tumbles to two-year low as stagflation fears rise – as it happened | Business

Time to wrap up.

Britain is facing the risk of stagflation after the Bank of England warned that surging energy prices will drive inflation to 10% by the end of the year as the economy stumbles.

The pound plunged to its lowest since June 2020 as the BoE hiked borrowing costs to a 13-year high. Sterling has lost 2.5 cents since the start of the day, down 2%, on track for the worst day since March 2020.

The BoE predicted that the economy could contract sharply in the last quarter of this year when the energy price cap is lifted, as the cost of living crisis hit household spending.

Announcing its fourth rate rise in as many meetings, the BoE said:

Global inflationary pressures have intensified sharply following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This has led to a material deterioration in the outlook for world and UK growth.

These developments have exacerbated greatly the combination of adverse supply shocks that the United Kingdom and other countries continue to face. Concerns about further supply chain disruption have also risen, both due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and to Covid-19 developments in China.

The UK economy is also expected to shrink in 2023. Although it might not be a technical recession, Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey agreed that the UK faces a ‘very sharp slowdown’.

Experts agreed that the UK was on the brink of a recession, and that stagnation worries were rising.

Here’s the full story:

Our economics editor Larry Elliott explains:

Just as in the 1970s, the Bank says external factors are mainly to blame. In 1973, it was the Yom Kippur war that led to 25% inflation by mid-1975. This time it is the war in Ukraine. The Bank is pencilling in another 40% increase in the energy price cap in October, taking the average annual household bill to £2,800.

There may be arguments about whether the UK is technically heading for recession because the Bank is not forecasting two consecutive quarters of falling output – but it will certainly feel like it. Living standards are about to take their biggest hit in decades. In another echo of yesteryear, sterling took a dive on the currency markets after the Bank’s interest-rate decision.

The same energy prices which are hurting consumers drove Shell’s profits to over $9bn in the first quarter of the year.

Analysis: Recession the price Bank prepared to pay to bring UK inflation to heel

Larry Elliott

The Bank of England’s grim forecasts have piled more pressure on UK chancellor Rishi Sunak to take action.

With inflation seen hitting 10%, employment rising and the economy contracting in 2023, Sunak needs to do more to help households suffering a deepening cost of living crisis.

Our economics editor Larry Elliott says.

Confronted with the dilemma of whether to worry more about the risks of recession or of inflation becoming embedded, the Bank has opted for a middle course, raising interest rates by a quarter point to 1% – their highest level since early 2009. But the vote was not unanimous: three of the nine members of the monetary policy committee wanted a half-point increase.

Having been too optimistic about the economy in the past, the Bank may now be too gloomy. There are two reasons for that. The first is that Threadneedle Street’s forecasts are based on what the financial markets think will happen to interest rates – and given the prospect of prolonged stagnation, the current City belief that borrowing costs will peak at 2.5% looks much too high. Some members of the MPC think no further tightening will be needed.

The second reason is that it is hard to envisage the government watching the economy slide into recession without doing something to alleviate the pain. The Bank has upped the pressure on Rishi Sunak to act – and act big.

Here’s Larry’s full analysis:

Full story: Bank of England raises interest rates, warns of recession and 10% inflation

Richard Partington

The Bank of England has warned that the cost of living crisis could plunge the economy into recession this year, as it increased interest rates to tackle soaring inflation that is expected to rise above 10% in the coming months.

Threadneedle Street’s monetary policy committee (MPC) voted by a majority to raise its base rate from 0.75% to 1%, lifting the cost of borrowing to the highest level in 13 years, as it sounded the alarm over the risks from spiralling inflation exacerbated by Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Despite the growing risks to the economy as households endured one of the biggest annual declines in their income for decades, the Bank said a quarter-point rise was warranted to block persistently high inflation from taking hold, as the shock from soaring energy costs rippled through the global economy.

Issuing a downbeat verdict as voters went to the polls in local elections, the Bank predicted Britain was on track for years of meagre economic growth as people cut back their spending to deal with the heavy blow to living standards.

Against a backdrop of soaring international energy prices, household gas and electricity bills are expected to rise by 40% in October, after the government offset only some of last month’s record rise using measures outlined in Rishi Sunak’s spring statement.

With the chancellor under pressure to launch a fresh support package for householders, the Bank said consumers tightening their belts to deal with the cost of living crisis was likely to push the economy into a sharp contraction in the fourth quarter.

Although a modest recovery is expected at the start of next year, ensuring two consecutive quarters of falling GDP (the technical definition of a recession) is likely to be avoided, the Bank warned Britain’s economy would shrink by 0.25% over the course of 2023 as a whole, in effect a slow-burn recession.

The ‘cost of living crisis’ means the UK may be on the brink of recession, warns Steven Bell, chief economist at BMO GAM:

Inflation is running well ahead of wages and the government has intensified the squeeze by raising taxes. In addition, the small army of people employed to tackle the pandemic is being disbanded.

Real personal incomes are set to fall by 2.5% this year, the biggest decline since records began in 1947. The Bloomberg consensus survey of forecasts sees UK GDP in 2022Q2 increasing by only 0.2% compared with Q1.

Before the Ukraine war, that consensus was for a healthy 0.9% increase. Indeed, a significant minority are now expecting an outright fall in GDP in Q2 2022.

Katharine Neiss, chief European economist at PGIM Fixed Income says there is a risk the Bank could be pushed into setting even higher rates into a recession, as a falling pound pushes up inflation.

The BoE is in arguably the most difficult situation among major central banks.

With inflation expected to peak in the double digits by year-end and growth likely to more than halve into next year, according to the central bank’s latest forecasts, it is the prospect of prolonged above target inflation that is driving policy decisions for now.

James Smith of ING sees clear hints that the Bank’s MPC committee thinks that is going to be too aggressive.

“Policymakers are clearly divided, and three voters opted for a 50bp move this time. It’s clear that the committee is divided on just how concerned it should be about the tight jobs market, faster wage growth and elevated consumer inflation expectations.

“In short, expect more hikes, but not as many as markets expect. We’d already pencilled in another rate rise for June and we suspect on the basis of today’s split decision, another one could follow in August. But the new forecasts, taken together with the increasing division among committee members, suggest the Bank is getting closer to a pause in its tightening cycle.”

The pound has plunged, hitting its lowest level since June 2020, on growing fears that the UK could fall into recession.

Sterling has slumped to $1.2375, down nearly nearly two and half cents today, on track for its worst day since March 2020, when the pandemic caused markets to crash.

You might expect a rise in interest rates to strengthen a currency, especially as three of the nine policymakers wanted a larger, 50 basis-point rise to 1.25%.

Instead, the split at the Bank of England, the sharp cut to growth forecasts, and the prospect of even higher inflation is hurting the pound.

Matthew Ryan, senior market analyst at global financial service firm, Ebury, says the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee looks more divided on policy than we’ve seen in some time.

The vote on interest rates was more hawkish than we had expected, with all nine members in support of an immediate hike and three in favour of a 50 basis point move. The bank’s inflation assessment was also upgraded, with price growth now set to peak in excess of 10% later this year.

“The MPC does, however, appear highly concerned about the impact of rising commodity prices on growth, and now expects the UK economy to contract in 2023. The tweaking of the bank’s wording on future policy moves is all pretty vague and muddled, and suggests to us that policymakers are unsure on upcoming policy moves ahead of a potentially damaging period of ‘stagflation’.

Sterling has reacted to the bank’s lack of clarity, and indeed the threat of a UK recession, in a negative fashion and is currently back trading below the 1.24 level versus the US dollar.”

Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at City Index and FOREX.com, agrees that stagflation worries are hitting the pound:

The divided MPC thinks CPI will peak above 10% and the economy is facing a very sharp slowdown.

The spilt in votes and uncertainty over inflation and growth puts rate setters in a tricky dilemma. Balancing inflation against growth will be very difficult.

So, the key risk facing the UK is not necessarily tighter policy, but uncertainty over monetary policy and, more to the point, stagflation.

As fears grow that the UK is heading for a contraction in output, amid rising prices domestically and abroad, weak growth in eurozone due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and China’s lockdowns, this should keep the pound’s upside limited.