UK inflation surge puts BoE rate rise firmly in the picture

Andrew Bailey (left), governor of the Bank of England. Picture: Justin Tallis/PA

Investors sharply increased their bets that the Bank of England is about to raise UK interest rates for the first time since the Covis-19 pandemic, after British inflation data came in far higher than forecast.

British consumer price inflation surged to a 10-year high of 5.1% in November, hitting a level which the Bank of England only expected to see in April next year.