Banks cool on interest rate cut after tick-up in inflation

TOP City banks have hit pause on predictions for the Bank of England’s next interest rate cut.

- By Mauricio Alnecar

It comes as forecasters are split on whether high inflation could upend monetary policy decisions.

UBS Investment Bank economist Anna Titareva pushed back a call for the Bank’s next cut from February to March after the Office for National Statistics said that price growth ticked up to 3.4% in the year to December 2025.

Ms Titareva, who believes interest rates will fall from 3.75% to 3.25% this year, had predicted the Bank’s monetary policy committee would back a cut as early as next week.