Spotlight on Economics - by Philip Shaw

Policy steady, no surprises. The UK’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) opted to keep policy steady at today’s meeting in line with the consensus and our own expectations. More

The ECB’s Governing Council (GC) opted to reduce its main refinancing rate at today’s meeting, taking it down from 0.75% to 0.5%, a new record low. That move was in line with the consensus with around two-thirds of those polled expecting the change today. More

March’s numbers beat expectations: Borrowing figures (the PSNBX) for March 2013 came in close to market expectations at £15.1bn (consensus £15.5bn, Investec forecast £16.3bn), some £1.6bn lower that in March last year. More

Little move forward in debate: In terms of the policy decision itself, there was little evolution in the debate, possibly underlining why the voting pattern remained the same. More

CPI remains ‘range bound’: CPI inflation remained at 2.8% in March, in line with the market consensus and our own forecast. The steady reading means that CPI inflation has now held in the narrow 2.7-2.8% range since October 2012. More

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) opted to keep policy steady at today’s meeting, holding the Bank rate at 0.5% and the targeted level of QE at £375bn. More

As widely expected, the ECB Governing Council (GC) key kept interest rates unchanged at today’s meeting, including the main refinancing rate at 0.75%. More

Whereas the option of lowering the Bank rate again has largely been shelved, the debate over whether or not to restart asset purchases is currently a live one. More

Policy steady again, but rate cut debated? The ECB meets for its next monetary policy deliberation next week, with the announcement due at 12.45pm UK time on Thursday 4 April with President Draghi’s press conference following. More

Against a more uncertain background than usual, the MPC maintained the stance of policy today, holding the Bank rate at 0.5% and the asset purchase target steady at £375bn. More