Bank of England hikes rates by 50 basis points, now sees 'much shallower' recession than feared
A passageway near the Bank of England (BOE) in the City of London, U.K., on Thursday, March 18, 2021. Hollie Adams | Bloomberg | Getty Images LONDON — The Bank of England on Thursday hiked interest rates by 50 basis points and dialed back some of its previous bleak economic forecasts. The Monetary Policy Committee voted 7-2 in favor of a second consecutive half-point rate hike, taking the main Bank rate to 4%, but indicated in its decision statement that smaller hikes of 25 basis points may be in the cards in coming meetings. The two dissenting members voted to leave rates unchanged. Crucially, the Bank also dropped the word "forcefully" from its rhetoric around continuing to raise rates as necessary to rein in inflation. "Annual CPI inflation is expected to fall to around 4% towards the end of this year, alongside a much shallower projected decline in output than in the November Report forecast," the Bank said. U.K. inflation came in at 10.7% in December, down sl...