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The Bank of England on Thursday cut its key interest rate for the first time in four months amid signs that the stubbornly high inflation that has plagued British consumers and businesses is beginning to ease. Policymakers at Britain's central bank voted 5-4 to reduce the base rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 3.75 per cent on Thursday, the lowest since February 2023. The move came a day after the Office for National Statistics reported that consumer price inflation slowed to 3.2 per cent in the 12 months through November, from 3.6 per cent a month earlier. The figure was below the Bank of England's forecast of 3.4 per cent. That gave policymakers room to cut interest rates in an effort to bolster Britain's stagnant economy. Statistics released earlier this week showed a weakening jobs market, with the number of job vacancies declining and the unemployment rate rising to 5.1 per cent, the highest since January 2021. Even so, the bank's Monetary Policy Committee was divide
The government on Tuesday left interest rates unchanged for various small savings schemes, including PPF and NSC, for the seventh straight quarter beginning October 1, 2025. "The rates of interest on various Small Savings Schemes for the third quarter of FY 2025-26, starting from 1st October, 2025 and ending on 31st December, 2025 shall remain unchanged from those notified for the second quarter (1st July, 2025 to 30th September, 2025) of FY 2025-26," the finance ministry said in a notification. As per the notification, deposits under the Sukanya Samriddhi Scheme will attract an interest rate of 8.2 per cent, while the rate on a three-year term deposit remains at 7.1 per cent prevailing in the current quarter. The interest rates for popular Public Provident Fund (PPF) and post office savings deposit schemes, too, have been retained at 7.1 per cent and 4 per cent, respectively. The interest rate on the Kisan Vikas Patra will be 7.5 per cent, and the investments will mature in 115 ..