London | The Bank of England has held off chasing the rate-cutters at the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank, saying it will take more time to “squeeze persistent inflationary pressures out of the system”.

Traders and economists expect the BoE’s monetary policy committee (MPC) will use its next meeting on November 7 to cut the benchmark rate from 5 per cent, after voting 8-1 on Thursday to hold fire following 0.25 of a percentage point cut in August.