A man shops in a supermarket in London, Britain, May 5, 2022. (Xinhua/Li Ying)
According to the BoE, the consumer price index (CPI) in the country is expected to rise to 13 percent in the fourth quarter of 2022, and to remain at very elevated levels throughout much of 2023, before falling to the 2 percent target two years ahead.
LONDON, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- Britain's central bank, the Bank of England (BoE), has raised its benchmark interest rate, Bank Rate, by 0.5 percentage points, to 1.75 percent, according to a BoE statement on Thursday.
It is the largest rise in interest rates since 1995 and takes UK interest rates to a 13-year-high.
This is the sixth rate rise in a row since December last year as the BoE continued to battle the soaring inflation in the country. And the policymakers worried about its future growth.
A woman walks past the Bank of England in London, Britain, on April 13, 2022. (Photo by Stephen Chung/Xinhua)
According to the BoE, the consumer price index (CPI) in the country is expected to rise to 13 percent in the fourth quarter of 2022, and to remain at very elevated levels throughout much of 2023, before falling to the 2 percent target two years ahead.
The central bank also warned that the UK economy will enter a recession from the fourth quarter of this year, adding that real household post-tax income will drop sharply in 2022 and 2023, and consumption growth will turn negative.
"GDP growth in the United Kingdom is slowing. The latest rise in gas prices has led to another significant deterioration in the outlook for activity in the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe," said the central bank.
In the statement, the BoE reiterated its firm stand to return inflation to the 2 percent target, saying it will, if necessary, "act forcefully in response."
Notes and coins are seen in a family in Manchester, Britain, March 18, 2022. (Photo by Jon Super/Xinhua)■
