05/02/2004

Interest rates rise to 4%

Interest rates have been upped today a quarter percentage point to 4%, the Bank of England has announced.

The bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), said that it based the decision in the light of the latest quarterly projections for output and inflation, to be published in the February Inflation Report.

The MPC said that although sterling had appreciated, continued growth above trend meant that inflationary pressures were likely to pick up gradually over the next couple of years. Against that background, and despite CPI inflation currently below the 2% target, the committee judged that an increase of 0.25% was "necessary to keep CPI inflation on track to meet the new target in the medium term".

The previous change in interest rates was an increase of 0.25 percentage points to 3.75% on 6 November 2003.

Reviewing the broader economic picture, the MPC said: "The world economic recovery has become more broadly based. In the United Kingdom, output growth in the second half of last year was above trend and business surveys point to a further pickup in the first quarter. Household spending and borrowing have been resilient, and the housing market remains strong."

The Committee's latest inflation and output projections will appear in the Inflation Report to be published on Wednesday 11 February.

The minutes of the meeting will be published at 9.30am on Wednesday 18 February.

(gmcg)

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