Bank of England holds rates as expected amid inflation concerns in World Economy News 20/03/2026 The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee voted unanimously on Thursday to maintain the bank rate at 3.75%, meeting market expectations. The decision came as the committee assessed inflation implications from a likely economic weakening due to higher energy prices. No MPC members voted to cut rates. Bank staff estimated that consumer price inflation will reach around 3% in the second quarter and up to 3.5% in the third quarter, driven by a global energy price shock. This represents a significant increase from the previous forecast of 2.1% for the second quarter. The MPC indicated it remains alert to increased risks of domestic second-round effects on wage and price-setting as the economy adjusts to higher energy costs. Source: Investing.com 2026-03-20 hellenicshippingnews... window.___gcfg = {lang: 'en-US'}; (function(w, d, s) { function go(){ var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0], load = function(url, id) { if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;} js = d.createElement(s); js.src = url; js.id = id; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }; load('//connect.facebook.net/en/all.js#xfbml=1', 'fbjssdk'); load('https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js', 'gplus1js'); load('//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js', 'tweetjs'); } if (w.addEventListener) { w.addEventListener("load", go, false); } else if (w.attachEvent) { w.attachEvent("onload",go); } }(window, document, 'script')); tweet Share