The two newest members of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee opposed this month's decision to keep interest rates pegged at 4.75%, according to minutes of the meeting published this morning.
The details of the October 4-5 meeting cemented expectations of a hike to 5% next month as they revealed the judgement was finely balanced for most members.
New MPC members Timothy Besley and Andrew Sentance both wanted to hike rates immediately, arguing that consumption was strong and price pressures were picking up and a move now could prevent a bigger move later on.
The bulk of the remaining members agreed on the arguments for raising rates but were concerned that an unexpected hike could boost market expectations of further moves, hence providing an additional degree of tightening which was not required'.
