The Bank is betting on strong GDP for August interest rate rise | Nils Pratley

Anything less than 0.4% for the second quarter could spell yet another embarrassing delay

Here we go again. The Bank of England has restarted its drumroll in preparation for a rate hike. Andy Haldane, the Bank's chief economist, has joined the rate-risers, expanding their number to three. As a whole, the nine-strong committee stuck to its line that the miserable 0.1% growth in GDP in the first quarter was a weather-induced blip. Its view that momentum will recover in the April to June quarter was deemed to be "broadly on track".

Financial markets got the message. The pound rose and the likelihood of a rate-rise to 0.75% in August is now priced as a 65% probability.