Two members of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee voted this month to raise interest rates, marking an increase from one member in February and shortening the odds of a rate rise in the near future.

Sir Andrew Large joined Paul Tucker as opponents to the majority view on the nine-member committee, according to the minutes of the latest MPC meeting released on Wednesday. The pound duly regained some of its previous drop on the news.

Financial markets proceed pricing in another hike by 25 basis points in the cost of borrowing in the next few months. UK interest rates have remained unchanged at 4.75 per cent since last August, according to Friederike Tiesenhausen Cave, Economics Reporter.

The minutes stressed that most members were happy to wait and see how economic data would turn out over the next few months. “For most members, the position had changed little since the committee’s February meeting. The two key risks had neither crystallised nor clearly diminished,” the notes said.

Figures on household spending, known as the key downside risk to economic growth, had been mixed. There were signs that the housing market was stabilising and that thus a sharp decrease in spending was not likely.