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Bank of England policymakers are now answering questions from the media.

The first is whether the Bank gave the message that “interest rates will remain higher for longer than usual” after the budget.

Governor Andrew Bailey begins by saying the rate cut is “important in the context of the news.”

“I want to reiterate that we have a lot to learn as the impact of the budget progresses; I think it’s important that we have time to do that, and that underscores the message we’re giving today.”

Deputy governor Sir Dave Ramsden says there has been “movement since the budget”.

“We’re seeing quite a lot of movement in the curve right now, given the events that are happening domestically or globally,” he adds.

Will mortgage rates be higher?

The Monetary Policy Committee was asked whether people at home should expect mortgage rates to be higher than usual because of the budget.

“Obviously we cut interest rates today, so we’ll see how that plays out,” Mr Bailey said.

“But frankly for most mortgages, how this plays out now depends on how the curve moves. Because most mortgages are obviously priced on the swap curve because they’re mostly fixed-rate mortgages.”

He says it’s not reasonable to conclude that the path of interest rates will be different, but any change would be “of a different order to the size of the numbers” that the Bank has been talking about in press conferences in recent years.