Is it possible that the Bank of England followed suit in September with a pause

　　According to data compiled by Bloomberg, the investor bet £625,000 via options and would have made eight times as much if interest rates were to remain at 5.25 per cent when the central bank next meets in September. That would be the first pause after 14 consecutive rate hikes.

　　To be sure, this is an alternative view, as markets are pricing in a 90% chance that the Bank of England will raise interest rates by 25 basis points next month. The market pricing of the terminal interest rate of this round of interest rate increases is 5.75%, which means that there will be two more interest rate increases.

　　Some noted that the central bank's latest actions suggest that the likelihood of a pause in September has indeed risen.

　　Andy Burgess, fixed income Investment expert at Insight Investment, said: "The central bank's decision this week is good for everyone. The bank remains data-dependent and inflation data over the next few months will be critical to the eventual path of interest rates."

　　Samuel Cheev, head of FX strategy at JPMorgan Private Bank, said: "The split vote shows that the MPC members have different concerns. The decision to finally choose to raise rates by 25 basis points shows that the central bank wants to stop raising rates as signs of economic deterioration are increasing."

　　Jamie Niven, senior fund manager at Candriam, said: "We believe the Bank of England is nearing the end of its tightening campaign and expect policy rates to be lower than the market currently expects. Policymakers are now leaning toward a cautious approach to further rate hikes. But on the other hand, their guidance includes new language that seems to indicate that rates will remain high for some time once the tightening cycle is over. Given the potential impact on financial conditions, that signal cannot be sent clearly."

　　More people, however, think it is incomprehensible to pause when inflation is so high.

　　Peter Kinsella, global head of FX strategy at Union Bancaire Privee, said: "Policymakers are placing more weight on the decline in the realized core inflation data than on the results predicted by the models. This means that boe policy is likely to remain constrained for much longer than people think."