Bank of England holds UK interest rates; US misses Trump's growth target — business live

Mark Carney holds press conference after setting UK interest rates for the last time before he leaves in MarchUS GDP: Weaker than Trump promisedHighlights: Mark Carney gives final BoE press conferenceBreaking: No Change at Bank of EnglandBank cuts growth forecasts..says Brexit hurt economyMPC split 7-2 on interest rates 1.57pm GMT Newsflash: America’s economy has posted its weakest growth since Donald Trump became president.US GDP only grew by 2.3% during 2019, the Commerce Department says, shy of the 3% growth which Trump targeted. That’s down from 2.9% in 2018.US economy grew 2.3% in 2019, the slowest of Trump’s presidency. 2.3% fell short of President Trump’s promise to deliver at least 3% growth. https://t.co/0MV7Vujo8p pic.twitter.com/7GTc51MUuP 1.55pm GMT Mark Carney’s final press conference didn’t contain many fireworks. Instead, today will be remembered for the uncertainty and trepidation in the City about whether the Bank would cut rates or not.That’s not the sign of a smooth-running central bank — policymakers shouldn’t create such confusion ahead of a monetary policy meeting, especially one the day before Brexit.Bank of England Governor Mark Carney brought an end to his reign by holding interest rates at 0.75% after business surveys picked up post-election. To his critics, he proved unreliable to the end, but in our view this seems like the correct decision, particularly with the upcoming spending review.“Historians perusing the Bank of England’s (BoE’s) base rate during Carney’s tenure as governor may conclude it was a dull affair. His Monetary Policy Committee tweaked interest rates three times over the course of 69 meetings. Traditional measures of central bank activity, however, as Carney acknowledged in his final speech this month, have fallen by the wayside as conventional policy tools find it harder to boost inflation than to contain it. Continue reading…
Via: Bank of England holds UK interest rates; US misses Trump's growth target — business live