An under-fire Bank of England is today hiked interest rates for the 13th meeting in a row, by half a point to 5%.
A 0.25% increase had been expected, but Bank policymakers surprised the market with a 0.5% rise to 5% after yesterday’s shock inflation reading of 8.7% included a 31-year high for core prices of 7.1%.
The decision came with stock markets already under pressure after Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell yesterday signalled more rate hikes to come in the United States.
