The Bank of England has raised interest rates to their highest level since late 2008 as it continues to combat stubbornly high inflation in the United Kingdom.
The decision on Thursday by the bank’s nine-member Monetary Policy Committee to lift its main interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 4.5 percent was widely anticipated in financial markets.
According The increase was its 12th in a row. Just two members of the bank’s nine-member panel voted to keep interest rates unchanged.
Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey told reporters in London after the rate changed: “The rise in bank rates since December 2021 will weigh more on the economy in the coming quarters and the [Monetary Policy Committee] factors this into its policy decisions.”
Like other central banks around the world, the Bank of England has sought to keep a lid on inflation, which over the past year has been fuelled by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
