How banks plan their rainy day savings

Economists on the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee take all kinds of research in to account before deciding whether interest rates should go up, down or stay the same.

Among the financial reports pondered is the British Retail Consortium’s monthly assessment of retail sales by economist Pamela Webber.

Last month Webber noted “Rugs performed wellä however, rugs usually have a lower transaction value than carpets” and “one of the most popular purchases for tourists appeared to be umbrellas”, plus “sales of hose pipes… were weaker than last year”.

Intriguingly “tights sold better than in May 1998”, with lingerie being “one of the few areas to see reasonable performance”. One can only wonder how the MPC factored that last point into its decision-making process.