Britain’s economy is now in recession, the Bank of England has said, as it raised interest rates to tackle the worst bout of inflation for 40 years.
A majority of the Bank’s nine-member monetary policy committee (MPC) voted to increase the key base rate by 0.5 percentage points to 2.25% – its highest level since 2008 – judging that the risks of inflationary pressures becoming entrenched outweighed the short-term dangers to the economy.
With soaring energy bills and the rising cost of a weekly shop forcing households to rein in their spending, Threadneedle Street said the economy was heading for a second consecutive quarter of falling output.
After a 0.1% drop in gross domestic product in the three months to June as the economy slumped into reverse, the Bank said a further 0.1% decline could now be expected in the third quarter amid a slump in consumer spending and weaker activity for manufacturing and construction.
www.theguardian.com/business/2022/sep/22/bank-of-england-interest-rate-rise-latest