The Bank of England should keep interest rates on hold until upside risks to inflation - including those posed by the election of Donald Trump as the United States' next president - dissipate, a top BoE official said on Thursday.

The central bank said future cuts would be gradual amid higher inflation forecasts after the new government introduced spending and tax increases in its budget.

The Bank of England has cut its main interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point after inflation across the U.K. fell below its target rate of 2%.

High inflation in Britain has not been vanquished and there is a risk that some drivers of price growth could be heading upwards, Bank of England interest rate-setter Catherine Mann said on Wednesday.

Interest rates have been cut for the second time this year, by a quarter of a percentage poi, but mortgage rates are still set to rise in a blow to homeowners. The Bank of England reduced the base rate from 5 per cent to 4.75 per cent on Thursday, following a 0.25 percentage-point cut in August, which was the first drop in four years.

The outcome of the Monetary Policy Committee meeting was announced at midday today. Stay up to date with live reporting and analysis from the team at MoneyWeek.

The markets and economists expect the Bank of England will cut its bank rate by 25 basis point to 4.75% on Thursday. It will be the second such reduction in borrowing costs since the U.K. central bank began easing policy in August.

Markets await US inflation for clues on further Fed rate cuts. Opus Energy has agreed to pay more than £7m in refunds, redress and goodwill payments after the regulator Ofgem found that the company overcharged almost 88,