LONDON: The Bank of England (BoE) rattled markets by raising interest rates by half a percentage point — twice the amount expected — on Thursday, after it said there had been “significant” news suggesting British inflation would take longer to fall.
The BoE’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted 7-2 to raise its main interest rate to 5% from 4.5%, the highest since 2008 and its largest rate increase since February, following stickier inflation — still at 8.7% in May — and wage growth since policymakers last met in May.
“The economy is doing better than expected, but inflation is still too high and we’ve got to…
