The Bank of England has elected to hold interest rates steady at its final meeting of the year.
The British central bank decided to stand pat on interest rates as economic data shows that inflation across the United Kingdom is currently at an eight-month high of 2.6%.
Economists had widely expected the Bank of England to hold rates steady given that central bank officials remain concerned about stubbornly high services inflation and wage growth.
The Bank of England left its benchmark interest rate at its current level of 4.75% following two reductions of 25-basis points each earlier this year.
Futures markets are now pricing in a total of 50-basis points of interest rate cuts in 2025 after the latest inflation reading for November came in hotter than had been anticipated.
The Bank of England’s latest interest rate decision comes a day after the U.S. Federal Reserve lowered rates by 25-basis points.
The U.S. central bank also lowered the number of interest rate cuts it expects to make next year to only two 25-basis point reductions, down from four that were forecast previously,