Bank of England surprises markets by hiking rates to 0.25%

Omicron not seen as a serious threat

The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee has voted to raise interest rates from 0.1% to 0.25% in an eight to one decision.

The bank said that the economic conditions it had been waiting for to raise rates had been met, explaining that "the labour market is tight and has continued to tighten, and there are some signs of greater persistence in domestic cost and price pressures". Most economists had been expecting rates to remain at its record low due to the emergence of the Omicron variant last month, which could potentially see the UK entering another lockdown. Bank of England interest rate decision a 'panic move' overshadowed by Covid uncertainty However, the MPC minutes said that while the Omicron va...