The Bank of England raised interest rates for the first time in over 10 years from 0,25% to 0,50%. This is a step back from the cut made in August 2016 to deal with the shock due to the victory of the "Leave" vote in the Brexit referendum with an increase in liquidity. Since then, however, the pound has depreciated, causing a rise in inflation which has helped push the BoE to raise rates.
However, the decision was not unanimous: the two governors Jon Cunlikke and Sir Dave Ramsden in fact voted to leave the cost of the money unchanged. Shortly before the announcement, Lee Wild, head of equity strategy at Intercative Investor, warned that a rate hike would hurt already fragile UK consumer confidence.
The BoE, on the other hand, kept its £435 billion quantitative easing and £10 billion of corporate bond purchases unchanged.
