Reuters poll: The Bank of England is expected to stay on hold this week and wait for the tariff situation to become clearer

On March 17, the Bank of England is likely to keep interest rates unchanged on Thursday and stick to its stance that it will only be gradual, as it grapples with the impact of US President Donald Trump's trade war and mixed news for the UK economy. All 61 economists polled by Reuters last week expect the Bank of England to leave its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 4.5%, with the next rate cut likely to be in May, followed by further cuts in August and November. The poll also showed that the outcome of the vote on this week's interest rate decision is expected to be 7:2. Despite limited news on the UK economy since the Bank of England's last rate cut on Feb. 6, Trump's intermittent announcement of tariffs on US allies has thrown financial markets into turmoil and raised questions about the global inflation outlook. "Global developments around tariffs and defense spending have complex implications. We suspect that the BoE will not rush to judge what this means for the UK economy in the absence of concrete news," said Martins, senior UK economist at HSBC.