The pound was little changed on Thursday as markets were focused on a raft of major central bank meetings that will culminate with the Bank of England next week.

By Polina Devitt LONDON (Reuters) -London bullion market players are racing to borrow gold from central banks, which store bullion in London, following a surge in gold deliveries to the United States on speculation of potential import tariffs there,

The Bank of England looks likely to cut interest rates next week, when it could also nudge investors to expect faster reductions than they currently predict as the economy flatlines.

The Bank of England has published a Blueprint framework describing the way in which a digital version of the British pound could be implemented. Plans to launch a Digital Pound Lab this year have also been announced by the UK’s central bank.

Bosses in the private sector expect a "significant fall" in activity over the next three months, according to a survey by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI).

UK Finance called for the central bank to go further by increasing the size threshold to £40bn-£50bn to take account of inflation since the rule was introduced in 2015. It also called for the active account threshold to be scrapped or raised from 40,000-80,000 to 100,000-150,000.

To date, retail CBDCs have failed to address real consumer needs or pain points meaningfully and currently offer no clear tangible benefits that would drive user adoption

ECB chief Christine Lagarde (pictured) said the single currency bloc was 'set to remain weak in the near term' as the rate was cut from 3% to 2.75%.

The independence of central banks from the democratic process has been a bedrock of economic policy for decades. The Bank of Canada is no exception

LONDON, Jan 30 (Reuters) - The first central bank meetings of 2025 suggest it will be a year in which policymakers go their own way as economic paths diverge, as the United States holds interest rates steady, the euro zone cuts, and outlier Japan is firmly in hiking mode.

The Bank of England this week opened a new facility that will, in future market crises, offer repo financing directly to non-bank financial institutions such as pension funds for the first time. The scheme could lessen the effect of market stresses that generate vicious circles of bonds selling off.

Another plank of the U.S. tech story took an Asian twist on Thursday after the Wall Street Journal reported that Japan's Softbank is in talks to invest $40 billion in OpenAI, more than had previously been mooted.