Bank of England rate decision – 22/06 – this week's central bank rate decision is likely to see the implementation of at least another rate 25bps rate hike from Bank of England policymakers, with the usual suspects of Tenreyro and Dhingra expected to dissent once more, despite UK core inflation surging in April to 6.8% and its highest level since the early 1990's. 

With this being Tenreyro's last meeting, she is being replaced by Megan Greene next month, the dissent on the MPC is likely to be much less over the coming months. With average wages surging by 7.2% in the 3-months to April, we saw yet another blow to the central bank's tattered credibility, prompting concern that the MPC might have a lot more to do on the rate front in the coming months.

The current terminal rate being priced by markets is for the UK base rate to top out at 5.75%, 125bps higher from where we are now, after the April wages and unemployment data. While that is probably overpriced, the fact we are at these levels is further evidence of the Bank of England's failure on the policy front. The day before this week's decision we will be getting the latest inflation numbers for May which are expected to show headline inflation decline further from the 8.7% we saw in the April numbers. While this was the lowest level since March last year, it remains painfully high when compared to the likes of the US and in Europe.

Core prices are also higher, as wages continue to exert upward pressure on service cost inflation. For months now Bank of England policymakers have consistently underestimated the persistence of current inflationary trends, consistently hiding behind the Russian invasion of Ukraine, even as commodity prices have fallen well below the levels they rose to in the aftermath of that invasion.

While they are not completely to blame, they have made any number of mistakes, which they seem incapable of acknowledging. Offering mea-culpas appears to be beyond them, with officials showing little indication that they would have done anything different. This is especially worrying given that an acceptance that they might have got things wrong might require some introspection with a view to making changes to ensure a better outcome the next time. If a central bank can't acknowledge its mistakes, how can it learn from them and do things better the next time.