King refuses to rule out interest rate hike
Bank of England governor Mervyn King has flown in the face of speculation by experts that interest rates will hold in April by warning that borrowing cost increases are still on the cards.Speaking to the Treasury Select Committee, Mr King said that the historically low interest rates must rise again to combat the 16-year high of inflation. The governor told MPs: "The committee will continue to monitor carefully the risks to inflation as they unfold and it remains ready to take whatever action might be necessary to keep inflation on track to hit the target." Mr King said that the threat of inflation was still large despite welcoming recent announcements of cuts to domestic energy bills and fall in the rate of growth of credit card borrowing.Economists have responded by saying that they fully expect a rate rise in May, but now acknowledge that an increase in April is not inconceivable.
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