LONDON — Bank of England policymaker Alan Taylor said on Wednesday that a soft landing for Britain’s economy is now at risk and that economic data had recently argued for five interest rate cuts in 2025 rather than four.
“Previously, I had seen a UK soft landing in the cards, with some remaining upside risks to inflation from the bump in 2025,” Taylor said in a speech at a European Central Bank summit in Sintra, Portugal.
“Now I see that soft landing as being at risk, and greater probability of a downside scenario in 2026 pushing us off track, as demand weakness and trade disruptions build.”
Economists use the term “soft landing” for a situation where employment rises and economic growth continues after a cycle of rising interest rates.
Taylor has voted to cut interest rates in five out of seven Monetary Policy Committee meetings since he joined in September. In May, he backed an outsized 0.5 percentage-point cut, followed by a 0.25 percentage-point cut in June.
