It would not be exactly surprising as three members of the MPC including the governor voted to resume gilt purchases last month.

Most data, outside the some housing price indices and the CIPS service sector survey, warns that the UK economy has failed to catch. To call it a triple dip, as is popular in the press, is a conceptual error because it implies two recoveries. Unlike the US and Germany, the UK economy remains well below its pre-crisis peak.

We had seen the possibility of a stronger sterling bounce following the loss of the UK's triple-A rating, which had long been rumored. However, sterling peaked on Tuesday near $1.5200; about half a cent above where it was on the eve of the downgrade. It fell to new lows in late NY yesterday to its lowest level since July 2010 ahead of the BOE meeting