mpc.theyserveforyou.com

mpc: 2 Short-term market interest rates had risen slightly since the March MPC meeting. Six-month sterling interest rates were slightly higher, by around 2 basis points, dollar rates had risen by around 4 basis points and euro rates by around 18 basis points. At least one further rise of 25 basis points in official interest rates in 2006 had been priced in for the United States and two rises for the euro area. In the United Kingdom, the interest rate curve remained broadly flat for 2006 with some possibility priced in of a 25 basis point increase during 2007. The Reuters survey of economists revealed a slightly different view, with the distribution of expectations for the end of 2006 still slightly skewed towards the possibility of an interest rate reduction. But the average of the expectations reported in the survey had risen over the month.