BoE keeps stance against rate cut talk
Bank Rate held at 5.25
MPC votes 63 to keep rates on hold
Bailey says 39;still some way to go on inflation39;
Sterling jumps after announcement

LONDON, Dec 14 Reuters The Bank of England stuck to its guns on Thursday and said British interest rates needed to stay high for an extended period, a day after the U.S. Federal Reserve signalled it would cut U.S. interest rates in 2024.

The Monetary Policy Committee voted 63 to keep rates at a 15year high of 5.25 and Governor Andrew Bailey said there was still some way to go in the fight against inflation, challenging investors who have bet increasingly on rate cuts.

The three dissenting votes were in favour of raising borrowing costs and there was no talk of cutting them as the BoE remained concerned that inflation in Britain will prove stickier than in the United States and the euro zone.

The central bank also largely shrugged off data showing a slowdown in wage growth and a 0.3 fall in gross domestic product in October which raises the prospect of a recession in the runup to a national election expected for 2024.

Sterling jumped by more than half a cent against the U.S. dollar and British government bond prices pared some of the gains they had made in the wake of Wednesday39;s Fed statement.

Successive rate rises have helped bring inflation down from over 10 in January to 4.6 in October. But there is still some way to go. We39;ll … take the decisions necessary to get…