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mpc: 24 Against this background, there were several arguments for raising the repo rate this month, to which members gave different weights. First, UK final domestic demand in general, and consumption in particular, were growing more strongly than previously thought and seemed likely to continue to do so, at least in the near term. That would reinforce the expected gradual build-up in inflationary pressure. The Committee's February central projections had envisaged that consumption growth would slow markedly in the first half of this year and would continue at a more modest pace thereafter. The revised data for 2003 and the latest information on retail sales, combined with the continued buoyancy of the housing market and the steady recovery in the equities market, made that slowing seem a less likely near-term prospect. Second, for some members, the pickup in house price inflation and the continued rapid accumulation of debt by households increased their concerns that, without policy action, households' financial position could become unsustainable and so increase the probability of an eventual abrupt adjustment process, complicating the achievement of the inflation target. On that view, an increase in the repo rate now might reduce such risks. One member judged that an immediate rise might have a greater impact on household behaviour and delay might entail a larger increase in the repo rate at a later date. Third, it was arguable that policy should discount the impact of sterling's appreciation directly on sterling import prices and so on the UK price level. The balance of news about domestically generated inflation since February was arguably to the upside.