The Bank of England has kept UK interest rates at 0.75 per cent after a unanimous vote by the nine members of its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC).
The Bank also hiked its economic growth forecast to 1.5 per cent in 2019, 1.6 per cent in 2020 and 2.1 per cent in 2021.
UK GDP has been boosted in the short term by a stockpiling drive by businesses prior to the original March Brexit deadline.
In the longer term the UK outlook has been improved prospects for other nations’ economies.
The MPC said in the minutes to its rate-setting meeting: “GDP is expected to have grown by 0.5% in the first quarter, in part a reflection of a larger-than-expected boost from companies in the United Kingdom and the European Union building stocks ahead of recent Brexit deadlines.
“That boost is expected to be temporary, however, and quarterly growth is expected to slow to around 0.2% in the second quarter.”
Stock building during the period had been higher than expected with UK manufacturing output rising markedly during the first two months of the 2019.
UK imports of goods from EU and non-EU countries both rose by around 3% during the quarter.
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