LONDON, March 27 Reuters Sterling steadied on Wednesday after a survey showed British businesses trimmed back plans for staffing and wage increases this month, with the Bank of England watching for signs of inflation pressures abating enough for it to cut interest rates.

The Lloyds Bank Business Barometer39;s measure of staffing plans or the gap between firms planning to hire and those planning cuts fell to 27 from February39;s almost twoyear high of 36. The series39; longterm average is 22.

The share of firms expecting to raise wages by 3 or more over the next 12 months fell slightly to 33 from 35.

Separate BoE data on Wednesday showed British mortgage holders and businesses are generally coping well with high interest rates, with problem debt levels well below those seen after the 2008 financial crisis.

The perpetuation of supportive UK survey data the Lloyds barometer… supports both the UK recovery narrative and broad GBP impetus, said Jeremy Stretch, head of G10 FX Strategy at CIBC Capital Markets.

On Tuesdays, BoE policymaker Catherine Mann, who last week dropped her call for increases in borrowing costs, said she thought markets were betting on too many interest rate cuts by the British central bank.

Markets have scaled back expectations for a June rate cut by the BoE and now see a 84 chance of a cut in August.

Pricing shows roughly a 54 chance the British central bank will start cutting rates at its June meeting. On Tuesday, they were seeing a 65…