Interest rates hit six-year high

The Bank of England's MPC has raised interest rates by 0.25 percentage points to 5.5%. The move ...

The Bank of England’s MPC has raised interest rates by 0.25 percentage points to 5.5%. The move sees rates hit a six-year high after being left unchanged for two months. The MPC had judged that a further increase in Bank Rate of 0.25 percentage points to 5.5% was necessary to meet the 2% target for CPI inflation in the medium term. CPI inflation picked up to 3.1% in March, while lower gas and electricity prices and weaker import price inflation mean that CPI inflation is likely to fall back to around the 2% target in the course of this year. However, according to the MPC, the margin...