4.5%. risen by a quarter of a percent, that is from our economics editor, faisal islam, who has tweeted that. just getting that information in that, as expected, interest rates in the uk are now at 4.5%, up from 4.25%, a quarter rate rise. 0ur cost of living correspondent is watching these developments for us, kevin, news that will impact on so many people s lives for their mortgages and make life just that bit more difficult as they have seen those rate rises so many times, for the 13th time in a row? it many times, for the 13th time in a row? , ., . many times, for the 13th time in a row? ,., ,, many times, for the 13th time in a row? , ,,, row? it is not a surprise, but clearly the row? it is not a surprise, but clearly the impact row? it is not a surprise, but clearly the impact is - row? it is not a surprise, but clearly the impact is still - row? it is not a surprise, but| clearly the impact is still very real. it will make borrowing more expensive for many, many pe
the economy is coping with the cost of living crisis when we get first quarter gdp figures in just over an hour s time. it s expected to have continued growing by 0.2% in the first three months of the year. hardly booming, but a far cry from the record breaking recession that the bank of england was predicting six months ago. on thursday, the bank announced a major rethink of its forecasts, saying the uk will now avoid going into recession. but it warned that the battle to get soaring prices under control is taking much longer than expected. the bank also raised its main interest rate again by 0.25%, to 4.5%. that s the 12th rate rise in a row, and it puts the cost of borrowing here in the uk at a 15 year high. the bank is trying to take spending power out of the economy to stop prices rising so fast. inflation is currently running at over 10% a year. that s the highest rate in a0 years, and five times the bank s target of 2%. our economics editor faisal islam reports. red gr
welcome. let me start with the situation welcome. let me start with the situation as we see it on the outlook situation as we see it on the outlook for the economy. the outlook for growth outlook for the economy. the outlook for growth and unemployment has improved~ for growth and unemployment has improved. six months ago we expected a shallow improved. six months ago we expected a shallow but long recession. since then energy prices have fallen substantially and economic activity is holding substantially and economic activity is holding up better than expected. so today is holding up better than expected. so today we forecast modest but not positive so today we forecast modest but not positive growth and a much smaller increase positive growth and a much smaller increase in positive growth and a much smaller increase in unemployment. we think inflation increase in unemployment. we think inflation will fall quite sharply over inflation will fall quite shar
rates to a 15 year high at 4.5% as it continues its fight against high inflation. and donald trump calls for republicans to let the us default on its debt rather than give way on biden s spending plans. hello. a warm welcome to the programme. this is world business report, i m ben thompson and we are going to start in the uk where the bank of england has raised interest rates for a 12th consecutive month. all of that as it tries to fight high inflation. uk interest rates were raised by 0.25%, while the bank said inflation would fall sharply in april but not as far or as fast as it previously thought. last month inflation slowed to 10.1% but that figure is still way above the bank of england s target. remember that target is 2%. let s speak to victorias, head of investment at interactive investor. lovely to see you. let s talk about what we have heard. first the interest rate itself because the interesting stuff is what the bank told us about what might happen next. a widely
it will include the models behind popular chatbots like chatgpt. ai industry has faced scrutiny from regulators lately, over the pace at which it is developing technology to mimic human behaviour. the uk watchdog will assess whether or not ai provides an unfair advantage to companies that are able to afford the technology. let s speak now to stephanie hare, who s a tech expert. what will this review focus on? it will focus on may two things. because this is the competition authority, it will focus on ensuring open competition and consumer protection. that is very different from what we have been hearing leaders in al worrying about, which is a existential threat to humanity. it was only in the last few weeks that the godfather of ai quit and he talked about the dangers of ai. do we know what the risks are in regard to consumer protection? it we know what the risks are in regard to consumer protection? to consumer protection? it depends on how we want to consumer protection