The Bank of England may be ready to cut interest rates this summer if its Monetary Policy Committee’s forecasts of easing inflation are borne out, a top official has said. 

Ben Broadbent, a BoE deputy governor, said in a speech that the bank’s agents around the country were reporting that companies feel less able to pass higher wages through to their customers than last year.

“Whatever the priors of its individual members the MPC will continue to learn from the incoming data,” he said. “If things continue to evolve with its forecasts — forecasts that suggest policy will have to become less restrictive at some point — then it’s possible Bank Rate could be cut some time over the summer.”