Bank of England raises rates as inflation pressures mount

The Bank of England raised its main interest rate to 0.25% on Thursday as inflation pressures mounted in Britain, becoming the first major central bank in the world to raise borrowing costs since the coronavirus pandemic hit last year.

Most economists polled by Reuters had expected the BoE to keep Bank Rate at 0.1% due to a new surge in coronavirus cases.

The BoE's nine-member Monetary Policy Committee voted by 8-1 to raise Bank Rate to 0.25% from 0.1%.

The MPC also voted 9-0 to keep the BoE's government bond-buying programme at its target size of 875 billion pounds ($1.16 trillion). The BoE has also bought 20 billion pounds of corporate bonds.