ECB and Bank of England under Pressure to Cut Interest Rates, UK Inflation Normalizing

The Hundred cricket tournament is getting a lot of attention internationally. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) might make up to £500 million from it. Reliance, a company from Mumbai, is interested, and so are others from India, the US, Pakistan, and the UK. The ECB plans to give 51% of the teams to the host county or club, like MCC at Lord’s. The remaining 49% will be sold to private investors. The money from the sale will be shared: 10% for recreational cricket and the rest for the counties. The first £275 million will be shared among 19 counties, and the next £150 million among the 11 non-hosts. The ECB is working with Raine and Deloitte to bring in private investors for The Hundred. The money raised will support recreational and county cricket. Private investment is seen as good for The Hundred, but details still need to be worked out. The ECB might lower rates at its next meeting. This could make it one of the first major banks to do so. In the UK, inflation is low at 2.3%. OpenAI is forming a safety team for its projects. Boohoo has withdrawn a plan to give big bonuses to its founders and CEO. Water company shares fell after price hikes were blocked. UK retail sales improved in May as inflation slowed. Interest rates in Europe might be cut, putting pressure on the Bank of England to do the same. The UK economy is recovering, but borrowing rates might stay high until autumn. The ECB is considering rate cuts due to falling inflation. Investors expect a rate cut of 0.25% at the ECB meeting. ECB policymakers are thinking about cutting rates next month.