LONDON, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) -- The Bank of England (BoE) has raised its benchmark interest rate by 0.25 percentage points to 5.25 percent, the central bank said in a statement on Thursday.
This brings the interest rate in the United Kingdom (UK) to its highest level since 2008.
At its meeting ending on Wednesday, the BoE's Monetary Policy Committee voted by a majority of six to three in favor of the decision, the statement added.
It came as the 14th consecutive rate hike since December 2021 as the central bank has battled against stubbornly high inflation.
The UK has been in the grip of high inflation for more than a year. Households have felt the squeeze amid a worsening cost-of-living crisis. Widespread strikes broke out during the summer of 2022, and pay disputes are ongoing.
Still well above the 2-percent target, UK inflation is expected to fall significantly further to around 5 percent by the end of the year, accounted for by lower energy, and to a lesser degree, food and core goods price inflation, BoE said in the statement.
Services price inflation, however, is projected to remain elevated at close to its current rate in the near term.
"If there were to be evidence of more persistent pressures, then further tightening in monetary policy would be required," the BoE said, noting that it will ensure the interest rate "is sufficiently restrictive for sufficiently long to return inflation to the 2-percent target sustainably in the medium term." ■
