Bank of England expected to raise interest rates for first time in three years today – business live

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Predicting a central bank’s actions can be risky, but there will certainly be surprise in the City of London today if the Bank of England doesn’t raise interest rates at midday.

The BoE is widely expected to announce its first increase in UK interest rate in more than three years, at noon today. A quarter-point rise would take Bank Rate up to 4% from 3.75%.

With inflation rising faster than the Bank’s target, most of its policymakers are expected to decide now is the moment to tighten monetary policy. This, they might hope, would dampen the risk that high energy costs spill over and push up the cost of other goods and services.