Until a few weeks ago, the markets were fully convinced that the Bank of England would hike rates at the monetary policy meeting in May.

However, since the release of the preliminary GDP data and the recent leading indicators such as the PMI’s covering the manufacturing, services and construction sector, this view seems to have changed.

The weak patch of economic data especially in the first quarter which showed that the UK’s GDP advanced just 0.1% on the quarter is something that the BoE officials will consider.

Further to this, the IHS Markit’s leading indicators across the three main sectors are likely to remain a key concern for the BoE officials as they contemplate whether to hike interest rates or not.

Last week, the swaps market showed a less than tenth probability of a rate hike this week.

The key factors that BoE officials will consider include the impact of higher borrowing costs amid an economy that looks to be slowing significantly.

While the first rate hike came in November, this helped inflation to ease from peaks of around 3%.

However, wage growth continues to grow at a sluggish pace.

While earlier it was certain of a BoE rate hike, this Thursday’s meeting could prove to be a cliffhanger.