thank you very much. i am making no comments about the pun in the last headline, if you missed it, she said this is a kind of magic. we start in the uk where as we ve been hearing the country s central bank has made its latest move to tame rising prices. once again, it s hiked the cost of borrowing in a widely predicted move by 0.25%. bringing the main base interest rate up to 5.25%. it s designed to tackle inflation which has started to ease but consumer prices are still rising at almost 8% a year. that s still four times the bank s target. the idea is that by raising the cost of borrowing it makes people poorer, less likely to go out and spend, and that eases demand, meaning in theory that prices fall. but it s a tricky balancing act to perform reining in inflation without hurting
in a widely predicted move by 0.25%. bringing the main base interest rate up to 5.25%. it s designed to tackle inflation which has started to ease but consumer prices are still rising at almost 8% a year. that s still four times the bank s target. the idea is that by raising the cost of borrowing makes people poorer, less likely to go out and spend, and that eases demand, meaning in theory that prices fall. but it s a tricky balancing act to perform reining in inflation without hurting the economy too much. let s talk to jackie bowie head of europe at chatham financial. good to have you with us. no great surprise that rates are continuing to go up, even though, as we said, inflation is starting to ease. that is sort of the problem. the two are
i m mark lobel. we start in turkey where the central bank have just announced their latest action to battle surging prices raising the base interest rate by 2.5% to 17.5%. a significant hike but less than many had predicted after last months mega move saw the cost of borrowing nearly double. now this is all part of an about turn for turkish economic policy since president erdogan was relected in may. for an economy facing inflation of almost 40% yes 40% and a cost of living crisis. financialjournalist victoria craig nowjoins us from ankara. when nowjoins us from ankara. we were chatting about hours when we were chatting about three hours ago, you expect at a rate rise into the 20s but you also said that president erdogan was no fan of rising interest rates and so is that what has happened? has he got his way? what has happened? has he got his wa ? ., , what has happened? has he got his wa ? . , . , what has happened? has he got his wa ? ., , ., , , ., what has happened? has h
we ve covered over the last couple of days, the us soldier who went into north korea from the south, white house saying they are still trying to ascertain the whereabouts and well being of that us soldier, travis king. earlier we reported there has been no communication from north korean officials even though they have been asking the obvious question is the white house underlining still a couple of days on that they are trying to ascertain the whereabouts and well being of that soldier. we hope to have more on that story in about 15 minutes time but let s pose from all that and look at the business news. what do you have with us? i want to start in turkey because the central banker has given us their latest action to battle surging prices, raising the base interest rate by 2.5% to 17.5%. a significant hike
insurance and my mot and stuff like that. but those savings aren t earning much interest. it s not looking good, obviously. the bank of england has increased the base interest rate 13 times in the last year and a half, but high street banks have been sluggish to pass that on to savers. mps have been asking the prime minister if that s good enough. it does what the chancellor said, it s the issue needs to be resolved. i know he s met recently with the fca and they ve agreed to deliver better deals for savers by driving competition and increasing reporting, which i think they re doing in the next few weeks in particular to make sure that savers are benefiting from higher interest rates. lenders have been quick to hike the interest they charge on mortgages. average rates for two year fixed deals are at 6.47%. and today, for the first time, five year rates passed 6%. but the amount they re dishing out to savers is only 2.45%. i want some bacon as well, i think, because we run out. that s n