The pound got a boost this week as the minutes from the last Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee cut a hawkish tone. They stated that the decision between holding and raising rates was “finely balanced” for two MPC members.
It is safe to assume that these two members are Ian McCafferty and Martin Weale who last year had voted for an interest rate hike before reverting to keeping them on hold as the UK economy cooled and inflation was driven lower by the collapse in the price of oil. Depending on how the inflation data plays out over the coming months it seems likely we will soon see a 7-2 split in MPC votes, maybe as soon as June. Cable, which was trading at 1.4935 before the release, pushed up to 1.5040 immediately afterwards.
Read the rest of the article This week in the markets: GBP/USD pushes up to 1.51 by Friday