The pound (GBP) underperformed its peers at the start of the week as Bank of England (BoE) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) member Catherine Mann dismissed the need for a "gradual and cautious" approach to monetary policy easing, as guided by the majority of BoE officials at the February monetary policy meeting and testimony to the Parliamentary Treasury Committee on Wednesday, due to deepening economic volatility around the world in a speech on Thursday.

Mann argued against a moderate monetary expansion approach amid significant volatility in global markets. She also said that the basic premise for a gradual approach to monetary policy "no longer holds" due to the "substantial volatility" coming from financial markets, particularly from "cross-border spillovers".

The day before Mann's speech, four BoE officials, including Governor Andrew Bailey, backed a gradual path to "removing monetary policy restraints" as persistent inflation was unlikely to fade "of its own accord".

It is worth noting that Catherine Mann was one of two BoE officials who voted for a larger-than-usual 50 basis points (bps) rate cut in its February rate decision. (Newsmaker23)

Source: FXstreet