Britain’s Bank of England raised its key interest rate by another quarter of a percentage point to 0.5 percent on Thursday. But growth could have been even higher, with four members of the monetary policy committee voting in favor of the hike at 0.75 percent.
However, four votes were not enough in the Bank of England‘s nine-member monetary policy committee, so the UK central bank raised its base rate in the same step as in December 2021. At the time, the Bank of England was the first of the most important to commit to raising interest rates.
The main argument for raising rates was inflation, which could get above the seven percent level in the UK in April. This would be the fastest rise in the price level since the early 90s, when Margaret Thatcher was still in the prime minister’s seat.
On Thursday, the Czech National Bank also raised interest rates, bringing its two-week repo rate to 4.5 percent. This is the most in the last twenty years. The Czech National Bank is currently struggling mainly to keep inflation expectations relatively low. Czech central bankers warn that inflation could reach double digits in January.
