The Bank of England (BoE) increased the base interest rate by half a percentage point until it fixed, this Thursday the 22nd, the new rate in the 5%, the highest in fifteen years. The decision of the Monetary Committee of the issuing entity responds to the failure to contain inflation and it will impact the mortgage premiums of millions of homeowners, which have become progressively more expensive since December 2021.
The increase of 0,50% in the price of money United Kingdom doubles the proportion estimated by most analysts, who projected the adoption of a rate of 4,75% at the meeting held this Thursday the 22nd. The committee made the decision by majority, although two of the nine members voted against raising it to any level.
He BoE It works independently of the Government, but it has to adjust the monetary policy to the inflation target set by the Treasury Ministryhe 2% currently. Official data published the day before place the general rate of the CPI at 8,7%, unchanged from the previous month. The new indicators go against the projections of analysts, who anticipated a decline in the 0,3%.
In addition, underlying inflation – discounting food and energy – remains at 7,1%, the highest level since 1992. Conservative MPs are increasingly lobbying the governor of the central institution, Andrew Baileywhich they accuse of “calculation errors” in monetary management.
Bailey had forecast a sharp drop in inflation this year, in line with the moderation in energy prices after the peaks reached at the start of the aggression by Russia against Ukraine. But data from last month points to factors internal to the British economy, including developments in the hospital and leisure sector, among the causes of the persistently high cost of living.