The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee meet on May 2, the minutes will be published along with the BoE's latest quarterly Inflation Report at 1100GMT.

Previews of what to expect have been posted earlier:

A brief one now via NatWest:

  • We expect the MPC to again vote unanimously to keep Bank Rate unchanged at 0.75% but to continue signalling the need for modest increases in Bank Rate over the forecast horizon, more than that currently expected by interest rate markets.
  • The urgency to hike anytime soon, however, is likely to be tempered by the on-going uncertainty over both the timing and nature of the UK's withdrawal from the EU and the lack of clarity over what form the future trading relationship will take.

NatWest add (again, in brief) on what is likely to come up in Governor Carney's press conference following (1130GMT):

  • … we expect the majority of the BoE's communication at midday (the Policy Statement, MPC Minutes and Inflation Report) to support the view that Bank Rate would need to go up a lot sooner, and by more, than currently expected by financial markets in order to sustain inflation around the MPC's 2% target over the medium term.
  • However, as in February, we expect Governor Carney to stress at the press conference that there remains a significant amount of uncertainty over the outlook. Likely faced with low confidence over their central forecasts, it would be surprising if the MPC showed anything but a preference to maintain a 'wait-and-see' approach, especially until some of the 'fog of Brexit' has lifted, before they feel it appropriate to send a clear signal on the timing of the next move in UK Bank Rate.
The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee head Mark Carney.