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Britain's inflation rate rose for the first time in four months in February, surprising an analysts and increasing pressure on the Bank of England to raise interest rates at its meeting on Thursday. The consumer price index jumped to 10.4 per cent in the 12 months through February from 10.1 per cent the previous month, as high energy prices continued to squeeze household budgets, the Office for National Statistics said Wednesday. While economists expect prices to drop rapidly later this year, inflation is more than five times higher than the Bank of England's 2 per cent target. The central bank will weigh the need to control inflation against concerns about the fallout from global banking troubles when it decides whether to raise interest rates on Thursday. The bank has approved 10 consecutive rate increases since December 2021, pushing its key bank rate to 4 per cent. Michael Hewson, chief analyst at CMC Markets UK, said he expects the Bank of England to raise rates by at least a
The Bank of England is expected to raise interest rates by as much as half a percentage point Thursday as it seeks to tame the double-digit inflation fuelling a cost-of-living crisis, public-sector strikes and fears of recession. The move would push the UK's key rate to 4 per cent. Economists suggest this may be the last big rate increase for Britain's central bank, which has approved 10 consecutive hikes since a post-pandemic surge in the world economy and Russia's war in Ukraine drove inflation to 40-year highs. The US Federal Reserve has already begun tapering its response, boosting its key rate by just a quarter-point on Wednesday. The European Central Bank, meanwhile, is expected to go big again, with a half-point hike on Thursday. Optimism grew that rate increases may begin to tail off after UK inflation eased for a second straight month to 10.5 per cent in December, down from a peak of 11.1 per cent in October. That's still far higher than in the US and the 20-country eurozon
Britain's central bank on Thursday raised its key interest rate again but toned down the pace as inflation shows signs of easing, mirroring action by the US Federal Reserve and ahead of an anticipated identical move by European policymakers. The Bank of England raised the benchmark rate by half a percentage point, to 3.5 per cent, the highest level in 14 years. It was the ninth consecutive increase since December 2021 and follows last month's outsized three-quarter point hike, the biggest in 30 years. This time, officials opted for less aggressive action after data this week showed inflation slipped from a 41-year high, but they warned that more hikes are likely to come. The bank last month forecast a prolonged recession in the UK and consumer price inflation staying very high in the near term. Should that scenario play out, further rate increases may be required for a sustainable return of inflation" to its 2 per cent target, bank's Monetary Policy Committee said. There are ...