The Bank of England is now odds-on to cut interest rates next week, experts said, after new figures indicated that the economy is at its weakest in five years and that the mortgage drought is set to worsen, The Telegraph reports.
The majority of economists polled by Reuters said they anticipated the Monetary Policy Committee will trim borrowing costs by a quarter percentage point to 5% next Thursday, as fresh evidence suggests the economy is facing a major slowdown. But with the Bank's own survey showing that mortgage lenders plan a fresh squeeze on their loans in the coming months, raising rates and withdrawing products, experts warned that lower official rates would not necessarily translate to a drop in the actual cost of borrowing. UBS, THE BELEAGUERED Swiss bank, has come under renewed pressure for a break-up...
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