Focusing too much on the chances of a Bank of England rate cut at its next rate meeting would be "ill advised", Bank of England Chief Economist Huw Pill said on Friday, highlighting how Governor Andrew Bailey had said a cut was not a "fait accompli".

"Focusing just on the next meeting is probably a little bit ill advised," Pill said in an online presentation to businesses and the BoE's regional agents, adding that he was focused on underlying components of inflation, not the headline rate.

Pill voted with the majority of the BoE's Monetary Policy Committee on Thursday to keep interest rates at a 16-year high of 5.25%, but said afterwards that he had growing confidence it would soon be time to cut rates.

(Reporting by David Milliken; editing by Sarah Young)