A majority of 7-2 votes in favour of increasing the Bank Rate by 0.5% to 4% by the Monetary Policy Committee.
Two members, Swati Dhingra & Silvana Tenreyro, preferred to keep Bank Rate at 3.5% (they both voted against any change in December).
As it fights against rising inflation, the Bank of England raised interest rates for its tenth consecutive meeting.
The Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee increased rates by 50 basis points, to 4pc. The majority of the 7-2 voted in favour of the committee.
#Newsflash: The Bank of England #BoE has lifted #UK interest rates to 4%, the highest level in over 14 years, as it continues to battle inflation. It is the 10th time in a row it has raised the base rate. https://t.co/VhdHr9Byj0
— Share_Talk ™ (@Share_Talk) February 2, 2023
This puts rates at their highest levels since October 2008, when global financial crises were beginning to grip.
The committee last met to raise the base rate by half a percentage point to 3.5pc. Policymakers were divided on how much to increase interest rates.
Andrew Bailey, Bank of England Governor, has come under fire for allowing inflation in October to hit a 41-year high of 11.1pc. This is more than five times higher than the target of 2pc.
Since then, inflation has fallen for two consecutive months and now stands at 10.5pc
According to the Bank of England, they believe that prices will rise less than expected.
It stated in its Monetary Strategy Summary for February:
Although global consumer price inflation is still high, it appears to have reached its peak in many advanced economies, including the United Kingdom.
Recently, wholesale gas prices fell and global supply chain disruptions seem to have eased due to a slower global demand.
Although central banks continue to tighten monetary policies, market pricing suggests that policy rates will be reduced in the future by many.
On Wednesday, the US Federal Reserve raised rates by 0.25pc to 4.5 to 4.75pc. However, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell stated that there was still work to be done to get inflation back to 2pc.
The European Central Bank will likely increase its deposit rate by 50 basis points to 2.5pc.
