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Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey acts as an inflation rocket, the highest in 30 years at 6%

Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey acts as an inflation rocket, the highest in 30 years at 6%

 

The pound sterling has risen against the dollar and euro as the Bank of England raised interest rates for the first time since the pandemic.  Warning that inflation is approaching its highest level in 30 years, the central bank has raised interest rates from 0.1% to 0.25% to keep living costs down. This was the third rate hike in the UK since July 2007 and the first rate hike in December since 1994.

This made the Bank of England the first major central bank in the world to raise interest rates since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis.  However, the nine Monetary Policy Committees disagreed when members weighed the imminent inflation risk and the signs of a slowdown in light of the Omicron variant.  One MPC member (Silvana Tenreiro) voted against the salary increase, but surpassed the rest of the committee, including Governor Andrew Bailey.

Within minutes of the announcement of the decision at noon, the pound rose nearly 1% against the dollar and euro, reaching daily highs of $ 1.3374 and € 1.1826. Yields on 10-year government bonds, an important indicator of how much government pays loans, soared from less than 0.73 percent to over 0.82 percent. Bank stocks rose because lenders can charge more to borrowers and tend to be more profitable at higher interest rates.

Lloyds Bank was up 4.6%, HSBC was up 3.7%, Barclays was up 3.2% and NatWest was up 2.9%.  However, the rate hike split the city’s commentators.  AXA Investment Managers’ David Page said, “Inflation has risen and has raised more than expected, so the case of a rise is clear.” IG Group Senior Market Analyst Chris Beauchamp described this as “a kind of horrifying tactic.” The rate hike was the day after official figures showed inflation reached 5.1% in November. This is the highest level in 10 years.

The bank announced its decision, saying it expects “inflation to stay at about 5% for most of the winter and peak at about 6% in April 2022.” This is three times the 2% target since March 1992, when John Major was Prime Minister and Norman Lamont was Prime Minister, making it the highest inflation rate in the UK.  Banks usually raise interest rates to help curb inflation. However, this carries the risk of impeding economic growth.  Banks’ decision to raise rates despite signs of a slowdown suggests that inflation is a bigger concern. A spokesman for the bank said, “The decisions were balanced because of the uncertainty surrounding Covid’s development.” Before considering a bank check. “Ratio ‘.

But Bailey told the BBC: “Inflationary pressures are more persistent and need to be addressed. ‘Medium-term inflation is a concern, and now we are looking at what could threaten it, so I We must act. Another report showed that recovery from a pandemic was running out of steam.  The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), which IHS Markit closely monitors, shows growth with values ​​above 50, but only 53.2.