Only one member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee voted against the decision to leave interest rates on hold at 4.75 per cent earlier this month.
Minutes from the MPC's May 6th and 9th meeting released today showed Deputy Governor Andrew Large once again preferred a 25 basis point repo rate increase to contain inflationary pressures.
The rest of the committee voted for unchanged rates for a ninth month in a row but one committee member said "the near-term risks warranted maintaining an unchanged official rate this month, while remaining ready to act to offset incipient inflation pressures."
The committee judged overall that the risks to consumer price inflation were broadly balanced but there was a range of views among members. They saw two main risks to the inflation forecast, firstly that consumption growth would not recover as quickly as expected.
Secondly there was a risk that demand pressures could push up inflation. "It was not yet clear which of the two risks ... was the more likely to crystallise."
At both the March and April meetings Large and Paul Tucker voted for a 25 basis point hike.