Interest rates held at 4% as Bank eyes inflation target

BANK of England chiefs have voted to keep interest rates as they are amid fears about the current level of inflation.

- By Mauricio Alencar

The Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee voted 7-2 to hold the rate at 4% and also decided to slow down its quantitative tightening — reducing its balance sheet by selling securities or allowing them to mature without reinvesting them.

Explaining its interest rate decision, the Bank said it was “focused on squeezing out any existing or emerging persistent inflationary pressures” in order to hit its 2% cent target rate.