Tough news for consumers

Commenting on the Bank of England’s decision to raise interest rates to 0.5%, Melanie Baker, Senior Economist at Royal London Asset Management said:

“Alongside prospects of steeply rising utility bills in April, albeit with some offsetting government policy changes, the Bank of England raised interest rates again today. Nearly half of the monetary policy committee wanted a bigger rate increase today and the committee signalled another rate rise in coming months.

“The outlook for household finances continues to look challenging and this was underscored by some frankly downbeat forecasts for the real economy.

“The Bank of England aren’t raising rates because the outlook for activity growth is looking more and more upbeat, but because worries about inflation have increased. For now those worries look set to linger, with inflation not expected to peak for a few months yet.”

–ENDS–

The views expressed are those of the author at the date of publication unless otherwise indicated, which are subject to change, and is not investment advice.