The Bank of England raised interest rates for a 10th consecutive time on Thursday, by half a percentage point, as policymakers kept up their vigilant stance against inflationary pressures, the New York Times reported. The bank’s policymakers lifted the key rate to 4 percent, the highest since 2008. But after more than a year of rising interest rates, inflation in Britain and several other major economies appears to have peaked, and the bank’s officials softened their tone on the future path of rate increases as the economy enters a contraction. In recent policy meetings, officials have said they would act “forcefully” against signs of persistent inflationary pressures. Crucially, the mention of “forceful” was no longer in the minutes of the bank’s meeting this week. Instead, the bank said “if there were to be evidence of more persistent pressures, then further tightening in monetary policy would be required,” according to the minutes of the meeting published on Thursday.
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