london dec 9 reuters  the bank of england will wait until early next year before raising borrowing costs later than previously expected as it awaits further information on the economic impact of the new omicron coronavirus variant a reuters poll found in a november poll a slim majority of economists expected a rise from 010 to 025 on dec 16 but since then policymaker michael saunders who voted for an interest rate hike last month said he wanted more details about the new variant before deciding how to vote this month while the dec 16 meeting has looked like an incredibly close call at times we think the mpc will vote unanimously to keep rates on hold amid the considerable uncertainty around the covid19 situation said elizabeth martins at hsbc one of the reasons we have been saying since the summer for why february is the earliest likely time for a hike is because of the risk of a winter wave of covid19 weighing heavily on economic activity coronavirus cases in britain and across much of the world have been rising and the government announced it would reimpose some restrictions late last month to try to contain the spread of the omicron variant which may be more resilient to vaccines even tougher measures were introduced on wednesday after the polling was conducted ordering people to work from home wear masks in public places and use vaccine passes to enter venues with large crowds to try to slow the variants spread despite restrictions the economy was still expected to expand 10 this quarter but slow to 08 next quarter and to 07 in q2 across 2022 annual growth was put at 48 and for 2023 it was 21 covid19 cases will rise monthonmonth in both december and january keeping many households cautious nearrealtime data continue to suggest omicron already has dealt a blow to the consumer services sector said samuel tombs at pantheon macroeconomics last month the bank surprised markets which had priced in a rise by leaving interest rates on hold market pricing is now showing a roughly 5050 chance of a move this month in the dec 68 poll 25 economists said bank rate would be left at 010 next week while 21 predicted a rise to 025 in the november poll the split was 26 in favour of a hike versus 21 expecting no change considering common contributors in this and the previous polls a slim majority  15 of 27  still expected a hike this month but the first move is most likely to come in february when the bank publishes its quarterly monetary policy report and would be well ahead of the united states federal reserve  which is not expected to act until the third quarter  and other major peers when asked what was the biggest downside risk to the economy next year 12 economists said coronavirus variants while nine said high inflation others mentioned tighter monetary policy and brexit like its peers britain has seen prices soaring due to supply chain disruptions and rising energy costs inflation hit a 10year high of 42 in october more than double the central banks 20 target the latest reuters poll predicted it would peak at 47 early next year before moderating to 39 in the third quarter and to 27 in the last three months of 2022 so the initial 15 basis point lift next quarter will be followed by a 25 basis point increase in may or june another 25 basis points will be added in the last three months of 2022 a quarter earlier than previously expected the biggest upside risk to growth next year was a tighter labour market and higher wages according to 12 economists five said it was fasterthanexpected growth reporting by jonathan cable polling by mumal rathore sarupya ganguly and anant chandak editing by jan harvey