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Global monetary policy remains on high alert as the European Central Bank (ECB) and Bank of England (BoE) joined the US Federal Reserve in holding interest rates steady this week.

Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said inflation is expected to rise to "a little over 3.5% by the end of the year" as a direct consequence of the conflict in the Middle East. He was speaking during a press conference following the central bank's decision to keep interest rates on hold with several policymakers saying they might consider future hikes.

UK inflation accelerated in March, as a surge in energy costs triggered by the Iran war started to hit consumers in the pocket. The consumer prices index rose 3.3% from a year earlier, up from 3% the previous month, the Office for National Statistics said Wednesday. Santander Corporate and Investment Banking Economist Victoria Clarke reacts to the data on Bloomberg Television.

Christian Mueller-Glissmann, head of asset allocation research at Goldman Sachs, discusses the equities rally, the impact of US-Iran de-escalation on sentiment, and whether the markets recovery is sustainable. "I think we need central banks to shift back to a bit to where we were before," Mueller-Glissmann tells Bloomberg Television. "We need the rates relief to come in."

Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey says it was appropriate to keep interest rate on hold at 3.75% on Thursday due to the situation in the Middle East. There has been a "huge increase in uncertainty," Bailey said in a pooled interview clip. "None of us know how this is going to play out."

UK inflation dropped to a 10-month low, the Office for National Statistics said Wednesday, bolstering the case for an interest-rate cut when the Bank of England meets next month. Jefferies economist Modupe Adegbembo, speaking on Bloomberg Television, forecasts 75 basis points of rate reductions in 2026. "We think growth is weaker than expected," she says. "The second factor is that we think looking at the labor market, the labor market conditions are not doing well right now."

CPI slowed to 3% as expected in January, reinforcing the case for a rate cut by April, if not in March from the Bank of England.