From The Debt Advice Bureau:
Bank of England Surprises with Base Rate Hike
A reduced seven member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) surprised most
economists and market watchers as the Bank of England announced at
midday today that the base rate was raised by a quarter point to
4.75% from 4.50%, where it had sat since August 2005.
The immediate reaction was for shares, Gilts and short sterling to
sell off as the majority were caught out by the surprise move. The
last time the MPC announced a move, when it cut rates from 4.75% to
4.50% at the August 4th meeting of last year, the move had been well
telegraphed. This time, there was no preparation and no hinting.
It is not that a rate increase at some point wasn’t expected, it
was. It is just that it hadn’t been expected this month.
For now the higher rate will begin to feed through into peo…
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