Bank of England delays rate decision and London Stock Exchange reads closure following death of Queen Elizabeth

The Bank of England on Friday postponed by a week an interest rate decision due to be announced on September 15 following the death of Queen Elizabeth. The London Stock Exchange opened for trading yesterday morning but indicated its likely to close if the late queens funeral is made a public holiday and falls on a weekday.

he moves and potential interruptions are indicative of the scale of official mourning measures which will run for weeks, but details of which have not yet been fully set out by the UK government. The postponed Bank of England interest rate decision is its first delay since the central bank became operationally independent 25 years ago.

“In light of the period of national mourning now being observed in the United Kingdom, the September 2022 meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee has been postponed for a period of one week,” the BoE said in a statement. “The Committee’s decision will be announced at 12 noon on September 22,” it said.

Economists have said they mostly expect the BoE, whose governor is Andrew Bailey, to raise interest rates by another half of one percent (50 basis points)although a larger three-quarters of a percent risematching this weeks ECB hike could be on the cards.

The death of the British monarch has significant practical implications for the bank as the issuer of the UKs bank notes and coins. While sterling coins have featured a likeness of the reining monarch for decades, Queen Elizabeth was the firstmonarch to also feature onbanknotes.

The BoE said on Thursday that thosebanknotes will continue to be legal tender with afurther announcement tobe made once the period of mourning ends, which will likelypoint to a timeline for phasing in new Charles III coins and notes.

Meanwhile, the London Stock Exchange opened as normal on Friday and will trade through the coming week. However,in a statement posted on its websitethe stock market operator said it recognized public bank holidays in England and Wales indicating plans to close if the day of the royal funeral is a public holiday and falls on a weekday.

The stock exchangesaid it will notify markets of changes.