‘Interest rates to stay put due to Omicron'

THE Bank of England is set to keep its base rate on hold until February, due to the uncertainty Omicron has cast over the economy, according to the experts.

- Geoff Ho

For months, the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has been hinting at rate hikes in order to combat soaring inflation. On Wednesday the Office for National Statistics is tipped to say that CPI inflation last month climbed from 4.2 per cent to 4.7 per cent, its highest level in a decade.

However, with the Government having enacted its Plan B due to the surging infection rate and the emergence of Omicron, economists believe that on Thursday the MPC will opt to keep it at the record low of 0.1 per cent to see what effect they have on the economy.