UK interest rate hike in pipeline

THE BANK of England (BoE) said it was likely to raise interest rates in coming months if the economy and price pressures kept growing, flagging Britain’s first rate hike in a decade. Policymakers voted 7 to 2 yesterday to keep rates on hold for now at a record-low 0.25 percent, as expected. But in a week when data showed UK prices rising faster and unemployment falling to a four-decade low, they said their tolerance for above-target inflation was lessening. The Brexit vote has put the BoE in a dilemma as it sought to balance the need to support the economy through the shock of leaving the EU in March 2019.