No joy for savers after interest rate rise

Millions of savers will be no better off after the Bank of England announced the first interest rate rise in a decade – despite banks announcing mortgage increases within minutes. Yesterday the Bank of England raised the base rate from 0.25 per cent to 0.5 per cent. But Lloyds, Barclays and Halifax left tens of millions of savings account holders in the lurch yesterday by refusing to say whether they would receive a higher interest rate on their savings accounts. Tracker mortgage rates rose within minutes. Business, page 1