Bank of England raise key interest rate

The Bank of England has raised interest rates from 0.1 per cent to 0.25 per cent, which is its first increase in more than three years The reasons stated were to do with the risks of inflation requiring the central bank to take pre-emptive action even as the Omicron wave of coronavirus spreads across the UK. Surprising financial markets on Thursday for the second month running and voting 8-1 in favour of higher interest rates, the bank’s Monetary Policy Committee decided it could not wait any longer before seeking to cool the spending in the economy. The BoE said that the strength in the economy meant that the conditions it had put in place for a rate rise had been met and the effects on inflation of Omicron were “unclear at this stage”.