The SMPC's rate recommendations are made with respect to the Bank of England’s decision concerning the official Bank rate paid on commercial bank reserves to be announced on Thursday 8 March.
On this occasion, two SMPC members voted to raise Bank rate by 0.25% on 8 March, one wanted the shock therapy of a 0.5% increase, and six members voted to hold. However, two of the members voting to hold had only changed their minds from being in favour of a 0.25% increase at the last moment because of the international stock-market shakeout on 27 February, which occurred at a very late stage in the production of the poll. Several SMPC members maintained a bias to rise, so the debate remains mainly about the timing of the next rate increase: a clear majority of members believe that there should be another rise at some stage in the next few months.
