MorganAsh comments on BoE MPC decision

20 June 2024

Following the announcement that the Bank of England has held the base rate at 5.25%, we have a comment from MorganAsh.

MorganAsh provides the award-winning MorganAsh Resilience System (MARS) to enable brokers, advisers and financial services firms to better manage and evaluate consumer vulnerability and comply with Consumer Duty. It is in use across financial services and the utilities sector.

Andrew Gething, managing director of MorganAsh, said: “Even with inflation finally reaching its 2% target, today’s decision was still widely expected. Not only was the central bank always unlikely to pull the trigger straight away when inflation hit target, but making such a big call in the middle of an election campaign would have surely weighed heavily on its decision.

“While not the news many would have hoped for, that continuity and stability on base rate will certainly help those not on a fixed rate, although the financial burden does remain painfully high for many families. A cut to base rate today would have just brought a welcome reprieve, but at least we are still talking about ‘when’ rather than ‘if’.

“The FCA’s own data points to as much as half of all UK adults being vulnerable in some way. Sustained financial pressures will only increase the proportion of vulnerable customers each firm has and with Consumer Duty in force, it is up to each and every firm to identify who these customers are and provide the necessary support. Not only is this impossible without good data, but it makes it incredibly hard to meet the regulator’s reporting requirements due next month.

“For the sake of those customers in vulnerable circumstances, we do have hope that a base rate cut comes sooner rather than later.”