Bank Rate reduced to 5% - August 2024

The Monetary Policy Committee ( MPC ) sets monetary policy to meet the 2% inflation target.

At its meeting ending on 31 July 2024 , the MPC voted by a majority of 54 to reduce Bank Rate by 0.25 percentage points, to 5% . Four members preferred to maintain Bank Rate at 5.25% ..

The market-implied path for Bank Rate was relatively little changed since the Committee 's June meeting and the path that had been assumed in the May Monetary Policy Report.

The appreciation was likely to weigh on the outlook for UK import prices and inflation, all else equal, but the extent of pass-through would depend on the underlying driver of the appreciation.

There was a risk inflationary pressures from second -round effects would prove more enduring in the medium term.

A stronger-than-expected path for demand, and structural factors such as a higher medium-term equilibrium rate of unemployment, could affect domestic wage and price-setting more persistently.

Five members preferred a 0.25 percentage point reduction in Bank Rate at this meeting.