Super Thursday: what is it and why does it matter?

On Thursday the Bank of England will release two key bits of economic data at the same time

Mark Carney warns that the decision is likely to come into 'sharper relief' by 'the turn of the year' (PA)

What is Super Thursday?

On Thursday the Bank of England will release three key bits of economic data at the same time. They are:

• A decision on whether to raise interest rates
• The meeting minutes, which tells us the way members voted
• The Bank's quarterly Inflation Report

What's new?

The Bank Of England have decided to publish all this information together. It used to be spread out over a fortnight, which allowed the minutes to be revised.

Why?

It's an effort to improve transparency and accountability, according to Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England.

Why is it super?

Every three months, the interest rate decision will coincide with the release of inflation data. Both are important indicators for the economy and can give clues as to when interest rates might rise.

Is the change a good thing?

There has been a lot of opposition. Some think it will create volatility as people will rush to trade the pound before they have had chance to digest information properly. Others say it will make it harder to scrutinise the bank’s thinking.

The change comes amid much speculation that interest rates will rise either late this year or early next year.