UK interest rates rise to 4.25% after Bank of England decision

The Bank of England has pushed up the cost of borrowing to its highest level in nearly 15 years amid concerns that inflation will persist.
The central bank raised interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point to 4.25 per cent, its highest level since November 2008, in the latest increase as the central bank races to tame inflation that has stayed in double digits.
Rates have now risen by 4.15 points in eleven rate rises since December 2021, when they were at a historical low of 0.1 per cent. It is the fastest tightening of monetary policy since the Bank took responsibility for interest rates in the late 1990s.
The consumer prices index, which is the headline measure of inflation, surprised forecasters with a rise to 10.4 per cent last month, up from 10.1 per cent at the start of the year owing to stubbornly high food prices. Economists had predicted a fall to below 10 per cent, continuing the decline from a 41-year high of 11.1 per cent in October. The Bank’s target is 2 per cent.
Rate setters said that the cost of borrowing should rise because, although wages rises in the private sector were slower … Read More