The Bank of England raised its main interest rate for the eleventh time in a row to 4.25% at its March meeting. At its previous meeting in February the Bank was optimistic about the prospects for inflation in the coming year, saying: “We expect inflation to fall quickly this year.”
But in-between times, inflation hit 10.4%, with price increases for food and other essentials rising well above that rate. This is close to the highest levels for 40 years. The Bank’s main tool for tackling this rising cost of living is to raise interest rates, but this is starting to become harder to do.
