Here comes the Bank of England...

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Bank of England Governor Mark Carney.

• The Bank of England is set to leave interest rates on hold at its September meeting.
• The bank raised rates at its previous meeting in August, so is unlikely to change policy for a while.
• It could, however, provide an update on its Brexit planning.
• The bank's meeting comes just two days after it was announced that Governor Mark Carney has extended his stay at the helm of the central bank until early 2020.

The Bank of England will shortly announce the latest decisions taken by its rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee.

Interest rates are universally expected to remain on hold. The central bank raised its base rate of interest from 0.5% to 0.75% last month and is almost certain to leave rates unchanged on Thursday. Any other outcome from the meeting would be a significant surprise to markets.

"With Brexit negotiations heating up, the BoE will more than happy to drift into the background, having come under fire for its views in the past," Craig Erlam, a senior market analyst at OANDA said in an email.

"With the outlook so uncertain and hanging on the outcome of these negotiations, there's little upside to the central bank making any changes to its policy message between now and the end of the year."

The bank is widely expected to increase rates further in the coming years, but the timing of such rate hikes remains unclear, and the next move in rates will almost certainly not happen until 2019.

While it is unlikely to move policy, the bank could provide an update on its planning for Brexit. It is currently working on the assumption of an "orderly" Brexit, with chief economist Andy Haldane saying last week that the bank sees the prospect of a no deal Brexit at just 20%.

The bank's meeting comes just two days after it was announced that Governor Mark Carney has extended his stay at the helm of the central bank until early 2020, having previously been set to leave next summer.