The Bank of England on Thursday cut its main interest rate for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, as inflation in Britain declined over the past few months.
The bank’s Monetary Policy Committee voted by 5 to 4 to cut lending rates by a quarter of a percentage point to 5 percent.
Governor Andrew Bailey and four other committee members agreed to cut the rate from its highest level in 16 years, which would ease pressure on borrowers while negatively impacting the interest rate earned by savers.
Commercial banks tend to follow the Bank of England’s policy approach when setting their interest rates.
Britain’s annual inflation rate has fallen to the Bank of England’s target of 2 percent, after exceeding 11 percent in late 2022, the highest in four decades.
Source: Qatar News Agency