MPC surprise: two members voted in favour of rate hike - UPDATE
The Bank of England's (BoE) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted 7-2 in favour of keeping rates unchanged at its last meeting, contrary to expectations for a unanimous decision.
Wednesday's release of minutes from the MPC meeting earlier in August shows evidence of the first dissent - by external members Martin Weale and Ian McCafferty - since Governor Mark Carney took over at the helm of the Old Lady on Threadneedle Street in the middle of 2013, just as several new members have come on board.
Central banking is never an easy thing even in the best of situations - which is not the case at the moment. Authorities must set policy looking to the medium-term in the knowledge that the very structure of the economy - and that of its trading partners - may be in flux.
It is against that backdrop that today's surprise has come, as the MPC struggles to understand the dynamics which are now in play and face off against the obstacles set in its path by some of its main trading partners, even in the eurozone.
Thus, at the start of the last decade oil production from the North Sea began to decline precipitously. Then came the financial crisis which ravaged the financial and banking systems, for example, which have yet to recover.
In fact, it is just over the last few weeks that BoE officials have been offering up their most up-to-date assessments on the dynamics which are now in play in the UK's labour market. Those are thought to hold the key for how the wider British economy will develop.
Indeed, on Friday's economics symposium at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, will centre around the study of global labour markets.
Be that as it may what now seems to be patently clear is that the range of opinions on the MPC is now much greater.
Despite all of the above, and while the MPC has to a certain extent been criticised for modifying its judgements too often, it should be kept in mind that in the run-up to the last financial crisis there was a firm consensus amongst policymakers worldwide - not just central bankers - about how best to proceed.
As we all now know, grievous mistakes were made.
At 09:38 cable was up by 0.29% to 1.6664.
-- More to follow --
AB