Howard Archer Months Quotations

Year-on-year growth of 2.2-percent exactly matched the Bank of England's forecast... reinforcing expectations that interest rates are set to remain unchanged for several more months to come.

It currently seems a pretty safe bet that interest rates will not change for several more months to come, if at all this year.

While the February mortgage lending and approval data are relatively healthy, there are hints that housing market activity could be starting to lose momentum after several months of improvement.

The testimonies to the Treasury Select Committee reinforce the impression that interest rates are set to remain on hold for several months to come.

The MPC could remain on the sidelines for some months to come as it monitors the strength of consumer spending and the housing market, and also looks to see if high oil and energy prices are feeding through to have second round inflationary effects.

The clear improvement in economic sentiment in December boosts hopes that domestic demand will increasingly kick in over the coming months to support growth.

All the indications are that the ECB remains inclined to tighten monetary policy further over the coming months to contain inflationary risks.

The limited correction in the Halifax house price index in January following the marked rises during the latter months of 2005 reinforces our strong doubts that house prices will see sustained sharp rises over the coming months.