A regular meeting of the Bank of England will be held today, at which, as expected, the regulator may raise the key rate for the second time in a row – from the current 0.25% to 0.5%, against the background of record inflation in the UK for 30 years. The last time the British Central Bank raised rates at two meetings in a row was in 2004. It is worth noting that consumer prices in the UK in December 2021 jumped by 5.4% compared to the same month of the previous year, showing record growth rates since March 1992. The British regulator raised the rate in December last year to 0.25%. At the same time, the Bank of England became the first among the world's central banks to take such a step, noting that some moderate tightening of monetary policy will be necessary to achieve the 2% inflation target. In addition, in December, the Central Bank decided to leave unchanged the volume of the asset repurchase program at the level of 895 billion pounds, including the repurchase of government bonds in the amount of 875 billion pounds. However, it is possible that today the Bank of England will stop all reinvestments in the framework of asset purchases. According to experts, the main message of the British regulator will be that a moderate tightening of monetary policy is necessary to maintain the stability of the economy. They also expect that inflation may peak at 6.5% and will slow down for a longer time than previously expected, remaining above the 2% target for two years.
