Bank of England raises interest rates in bid to tame inflation

The Bank of England predicts that inflation will reach more than 13 percent in the final three months of 2022, its highest level for 42 years [File: Frank Augstein/AP]

The United Kingdom’s central bank has made its biggest increase to interest rates in 27 years in a bid to smother soaring inflation and warned the country faces a long recession ahead.

Reeling from a surge in energy prices caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Bank of England’s (BOE) Monetary Policy Committee voted 8-1 on Thursday for a half percentage point rise in its key interest rate to 1.75 percent.