The Bank of England base rate may reach 7%.

Experts have warned that the Bank of England (BoE) may need to increase the base rate to seven percent.

To combat excessive inflation, which is still at 8.7%, the bank may be forced to increase the base rate beyond its present level of 5%.

This could cause additional hardship for mortgage holders, who are already facing significant increases in their monthly payments. The average mortgage rates for two- and five-year fixed-rate mortgages have now surpassed 6% and are expected to continue rising.

Allan Monks, an economist at JPMorgan Chase & Co, stated that increasing the base rate to seven percent could cause a “hard landing” in the economy in order to reduce inflation.

In a note to clients of the investment bank, Monks stated that if inflation is to be brought under control in the United Kingdom, “a break in behaviour, or hard landing, appears increasingly likely at some point over the next year.”

The central forecast from the bank is that inflation will peak at 5.75 percent in November, but in its most recent note, it warned the base rate could reach seven percent under certain circumstances. He did note, however, that there were numerous exceptions to this analysis.

Experts and investment institutions have issued similar warnings.

Schroders has recently increased its forecasted base rate. The bank’s economic expert, Azad Zangana, stated that “recent events, incoming data, and a surprising 0.5% increase in the base rate indicate that the BoE is still far from gaining control over inflation.”

The bank forecasts that interest rates will crest at 6.5% by the end of 2023, an increase of 1.5 percentage points from its previous forecast of 5%. It now anticipates a 50 basis point increase in August and September, followed by a 25 basis point increase in November and December.

He stated, “This is one of the most optimistic forecasts on the market, and we anticipate that rates at this level will cause a recession in the United Kingdom.”

“Unfortunately, the Bank of England can no longer wait to see how interest rate hikes thus far will impact the economy.

We cannot rule out the possibility that the bank’s current trajectory, which has the potential to have a disproportionate impact on the property market, will result in financial stability issues.