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Economic Development

Interest rates up to 3% as Bank of England bids to tackle cost of living crisis and warns of long recession

Rise from 2.25% to 3% had been widely expected and is biggest since 1980s

Today's rate rise had been widely predicted(Image: PA)

The Bank of England has imposed the biggest interest rate rise for decades as it bids to ease the cost of living crisis and tackle soaring inflation.

And the Bank has also warned the º£½ÇÊÓÆµ could be on course for its longest recession since reliable records began a century ago.

The Bank's Monetary Policy Committee voted by 7 to 2 to lift the Bank’s base interest rate from 2.25% to 3% - the highest level since 2008. It's the biggest single increase since 1989.

This is the eighth time in a row that the Bank has lifted interest rates. The rate was 0.1% less than a year ago.

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The Bank has also warned that if current market expectations are correct, the º£½ÇÊÓÆµ economy could fall into eight consecutive quarters of negative growth. That would be the longest period of economic decline the nation has seen for 100 years.

However its analysts say this would be a milder recession than earlier ones.

However, it would be a milder recession than in previous times. Gross domestic product is expected to drop 2.9%, a much smaller decrease than the 6.3% drop seen during the 2008 financial crisis.