LONDON (AP) – The Bank of England raised interest rates by half a percentage point Thursday as it sought to tame double-digit inflation that is fueling a cost-of-living crisis, public-sector strikes and fears of recession.
The bank’s monetary policy committee voted 7-2 to push its key rate to 4 per cent, approving the 10th consecutive rate increase since a post-pandemic surge in the world economy and Russia’s war in Ukraine drove inflation to 40-year highs.
Economists suggest this may be the last big rate increase for Britain’s central bank after inflation slowed to 10.5 per cent in December from a peak of 11.1 per cent two months earlier. It forecast a fall to about 4 per cent by the end of the year.
“We have done a lot on rates already. The full effect of that is still to come through, but it is too soon to declare victory just yet,” bank Gov. Andrew Bailey said…
