The Bank of England is making a habit of pulling surprises. In November, financial markets were taken aback when Threadneedle Street kept interest rates on hold at 0.1%. This time they were caught on the hop by the decision to raise them to 0.25%.
It’s not hard to see why traders in the City have been left scratching their heads given that the explanation for doing nothing in November – uncertainty about the real state of the economy – seems to apply just as much to today’s circumstances.
Last month the big imponderable was how the labour market had stood up to the end of the government’s furlough scheme; this time it was the impact of the Omicron variant.
So what explains a change of stance that resulted in only one member of the nine-strong
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