The pound dipped after the Bank of England's minutes to its last rate-setting meeting unexpectedly revealed deputy governor John Gieve had joined arch-dove David Blanchflower in calling for a rate cut earlier this month. The nine-person Monetary Policy Committee as expected voted 7-2 to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 5.75 pct. But speculation had been for Rachel Lomax to join Blanchflower in pushing for a quarter-point rate reduction, rather than Gieve. "Gieve's vote to cut was unexpected, as he voted in favour off all five 25 basis points base rate hikes delivered between Aug 2006 and July this year," said Robert Howard at IFR Markets. Gieve had also voted for a rate rise in June when the MPC left rates unchanged. "It was in June that Gieve was one of the four members that voted for a rate hike but was not delivered due to five other members looking for unchanged," said Divyang Shah, chief strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia. Also pressurising the pound was the impression more members had not voted to reduce borrowing rates simply because it was not expected by markets. "It looks like the only thing that held them back was that the markets would be surprised if they cut rates," said Shah. These, alongside concerns over to what extent the economy will be affected by the financial market troubles, has added to some economists' expectations interest rates will come down as soon as next month. "This keeps alive hopes for an early cut in UK rates and the markets should not rule out a December ease at this stage," said David Brown, chief European economist at Bear Stearns. "The hawks may be worried about inflation expectations, but there is more harm being inflicted on growth prospects by fall-out from the financial market troubles right now," he added. A weak appetite for risk is also dampening demand for sterling, with the major yen crosses coming under pressure, alongside the higher-yielding carry trade currencies. At 10.45 am, the pound had weakened to 0.7198 per euro from 0.7182 prior to the release of the minutes. Against the dollar, it weakened to 2.0545 from 2.0614 previously.