Bank of England (BoE) Governor Andrew Bailey refused to give a timeline on possible interest rate cuts at a press conference on Thursday, saying that it is "far too soon to speculate" on the topic. He said there are a number of risks to the upside, including services inflation, the labor market, and wage growth that the BoE will continue monitoring before it decides to pause or cut rates.
Commenting on Russia's decision to withdraw from the Black Sea Grain Initiative, Bailey said that it has not had as much of an impact on wheat prices as when the war in Ukraine started last year. He said food prices in the United Kingdom are coming down, although less quickly than "anybody expected," mainly due to energy prices and the fact that producers bought fertilizer in advance due to access uncertainty last year and "locked in higher prices for longer."
