Bank of England Wary of Lowering Interest Rate, Holds It at 5.25 Percent

The Bank of England (BoE) said it needs more evidence that inflation will fall further sustainably before it lowers interest rates, which it held at 5.25 percent on Thursday. Only one member of the bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted to reduce the rate to 5 percent, while two members would rather see it go up to 5.5 percent. Commenting on the vote, BoE Governor Andrew Bailey said that the current 4 percent level of inflation is expected to drop in the coming months. “That is good news,” Mr. Bailey said. The UK’s economy has seen a dramatic rise in inflation in the past two years. The COVID-19 pandemic and the increase in energy prices in the aftermath of the war in Ukraine were among the factors that pushed prices up....