but it is still above the target the bank of england sets itself— of 2%. and people across the country are still feeling the effects of higher prices — despite claims by the prime minister that the economy is on the road to recovery. let's cross live now to chris williamson, chief business economist at s&p global market intelligence. always good to see you. we will find out if there is any move. while we are not expecting the headline figure to change, we might start to get a sensejudging on figure to change, we might start to get a sense judging on the rating split whether we are going to see those rate cuts many have already factored in. those rate cuts many have already factored in-— factored in. indeed, yes, it is all ofthe factored in. indeed, yes, it is all of the communication _ factored in. indeed, yes, it is all of the communication we - factored in. indeed, yes, it is all of the communication we are - factored in. indeed, yes, it is all- of the communication we are looking for. no action, really, today, i suspect. it would be a big shock if we do. the committee was split last time, some voting that further rate hikes. the generalfeeling is time, some voting that further rate hikes. the general feeling is that it will start to signal some rate cuts, they are looking more likely in the summer, so nothing for a couple of months, yet, but we are looking perhaps at august. the markets being marketing in august. and the rest of the year. it is interesting — and the rest of the year. it is interesting given _ and the rest of the year. it is interesting given what is going on around the world, we got details from the fed yesterday that they were in a similar position, they need decide to move earlier on their cuts, a similar picture in europe from the european central bank. all of this is about optimism, isn't it? a business, all of us looking ahead and thinking, do i feel better off? do i have more money in my pocket? that is a problem because of inflation. . , that is a problem because of inflation. ., , ., inflation. certainly, the degree of inflation. certainly, the degree of inflation we _ inflation. certainly, the degree of inflation we saw, _ inflation. certainly, the degree of inflation we saw, double - inflation. certainly, the degree of inflation we saw, double digits, l inflation. certainly, the degree of| inflation we saw, double digits, is a real pernicious effect on the economy and sentiment. the fact it is coming down... and price levels are so high, that is not yet away from that, but the rate they are rising at is coming down. the cost of living squeeze is very apparent on the uk and other economies, but there are signs that there is light at the end of a tunnel now with inflation coming down, and importantly, wages rising faster. we are seeing real wage growth. that is helping to revive consumer sentiment is a little. but, it is very much a situation whereby these rate cuts are not here yet, they are not guaranteed yet, and we are still waiting to see what it says. when ou are waiting to see what it says. when you are hearing — waiting to see what it says. when you are hearing from _ waiting to see what it says. when you are hearing from businesses, j you are hearing from businesses, what are they telling you? consumers, as you have said, they are feeling the cost of living squeeze, but do consumers managed to ride this out? i would imagine a lot of their prices have gone up as well and they are forced in some cases to pass that on. we and they are forced in some cases to pass that on-— pass that on. we have data this mornin: , pass that on. we have data this morning. the — pass that on. we have data this morning, the postal— pass that on. we have data this morning, the postal manager's| pass that on. we have data this - morning, the postal manager's index data, that is showing some encouraging signals. we were worried about recession last year, but that seems to have faded, now the economy is beginning to grow again. on the ground swell of improved optimism, that inflation is coming down, interest rates are going to start coming down, that is actually fuelling growth even before rates have actually started to be cut by the bank of england.— have actually started to be cut by the bank of england. always good to talk to ou. the bank of england. always good to talk to you. thank _ the bank of england. always good to talk to you. thank you. _ the bank of england. always good to talk to you. thank you. we - the bank of england. always good to talk to you. thank you. we will - the bank of england. always good to talk to you. thank you. we will talk. talk to you. thank you. we will talk to some more people and get that interest rate decision. not expected to change much, that will be at midday, around 25 minutes from now. staying in the uk, and a question affecting thousands of women born in the 1950s — should they be paid compensation after the state pension age was changed? an investigation by the parliamentary and health service ombudsman has said the government should �*do the right thing' but whilst it can recommend compensation, it cannot enforce it? the report suggests that ? in the sample cases it has seen ? women should receive compensation of between £1,000 and nearly £3,000. the 1995 pensions act raised the state pension age for women born on or after 6 april 1950 — to bring it in line with men's. let's speak to jonathan josephs who's following this for us. could you outline for us who is affected by the injustice that's been argued here? well, directly affected, we don't know the exact number that it could be around 3.5 million women, 3.8 million women across the uk. at the heart of the argument is a question that society, governments, and economies are grappling with: at what age can we afford retirement? the average life expectancy is increasing, the average age of populations is increasing, it means pensions become more expensive as there are less working years to fund them. so, governments around the world have been pushing up retirement ages, and as he said, in 1995, the uk are laid out a timetable for this to happen. that was accelerated by the coalition government, the conservatives and liberal democrats led by david cameron in 2010. that was a time when government finances were under particular strain it because of the impact of the global financial crisis. that was thought to be a way to make some headway with the government finances. the core argument of these women who have been affected is that those changes were not adequately communicated with them, so when they had their retirement age pushed up, they were unable to properly handle and their finances, how they would be able to live, and they didn't have that communication. what we have had in this report today from the ombudsman is an agreement with that position, saying that they were not adequately communicated with and that they are owed some compensation. and that that should happen, that the government should rectify this situation. ., . ., situation. that rectification will be the big question. _ situation. that rectification will be the big question. the - situation. that rectification will- be the big question. the ombudsman cannot enforce. how hopeful, if any, are those women are getting the money? are those women are getting the mone ? ., ., ., , are those women are getting the mone? ., ., ., ,. .,, are those women are getting the mone? ., ., ., ,. ., money? cadaverous certainly some ho -e for money? cadaverous certainly some hope for the _ money? cadaverous certainly some hope for the ombudsman _ money? cadaverous certainly some hope for the ombudsman -- - money? cadaverous certainly some hope for the ombudsman -- therel money? cadaverous certainly some l hope for the ombudsman -- there is hope for the ombudsman —— there is certainly some hope. the ombudsman said it cannot enforce this, but it will push it to parliament. it said the department for work and pensions, the uk department and voltaire, has clearly been refused to comply. that is clearly the government's position. the ombudsman is saying that from the sample cases they have seen, these women should be given compensation between 1000 and £3000 each, between 1300 dollars... this month, we heard how the government is struggling to balance its desire to cut taxes, and it is taxes which fund pension payments, and deal with a growing national debt. the government could really do without having a bill like this which, at the higher end of these numbers, could equate to £11.11 billion or $15 billion. a large sum for it to find any on election year. we have not yet heard from the government, i expect we will later today. government, i expect we will later toda . ., government, i expect we will later toda. ., ,, ., today. good to speak to you. jonathan _ today. good to speak to you. jonathan joseph _ today. good to speak to you. jonathan joseph is _ today. good to speak to you. jonathan joseph is in - today. good to speak to you. jonathan joseph is in the - today. good to speak to you. - jonathan joseph is in the newsroom. staying with tech and shares in the social media platform reddit start trading on the new york stock exchange on thursday — in its initial public offering or ipo. if you are not familiar with reddit — it hosts niche discussion groups or �*subreddits' — around 100 thousand of them — on everything from politics to pets, investing and hobbies. in the words of co—founder and boss steve huffman — reddit topics range from "the sublime to the ridiculous, the trivial to the existential, the comic to the serious". this around 73 million people use it every day. so what's it worth? reddit has priced its shares at 3a dollars — giving it a stock market value of $6.4 billion at the start of trading. that could of course go up or down once shares start trading — but it is well below the $10 billion valuation given to reddit by investors back in 2021. and to put that in perspective— social media giant meta — which owns facebook, instagram and whatsapp — was worth $1.2 trillion at the market close on wednesday. let's cross live now to our tech hub and our technology reporter tom gerken. at $6.4 billion dollars, what's driving the value of the firm to that level? it isa it is a problem, for 18 years it has existed, how do you make money out of people having random conversations on the internet? the answer, they have tried, has been advertising. they changed the design of the website in 2017 to some consternation from users, but that did not turn the dial enough for them to become profitable. last year, they lost around $19 million. how does it make money now? suddenly, seemingly, as far as reddit is concerned, it is really valuable to have all of the data because it can mean sold to ai companies like meta, openai, will spend a lot of money to get a lot of data of people talking because chat bots like chatgpt need billions of words of conversations, that is how they work, and read it finds itself in a bizarre situation where, by not doing anything, just by waiting, suddenly, this massive bank of people talking about niche subjects with some degree of expertise has become incredibly valuable to them. remember that $90 million? reddit reckons it can raise $200 million by selling data to the ai companies, reports say it has already made a license sales worth $60 million to google. that is the main thing driving it as �*s value. this what driving it as 's value. this what about regulation? _ driving it as 's value. this what about regulation? it _ driving it as 's value. this what about regulation? it will- driving it as 's value. this what about regulation? it will be - driving it as '5 value. this what about regulation? it will be in the sights of regulators right now? if there is one thing regulators tend not to like, it is when people sell user data to third parties, and that is really the main thing reddit is basing this on, selling the data. the federal trade commission in the us is looking into reddit. these kinds of things take a long time, we don't really know when it will be resolved, that actually, more than regulators, it is also the users themselves that reddit is going to have to reckon with. it notes in the sec filing that it's use base is the biggest risk to the stock. social media platforms are only worth as much as people use them, if people were to leave because it has dramatically changed, that would be a problem. there is a mess favour is with reddit, it is very unlikely that people will go elsewhere, there simply are not very many useful alternatives.— simply are not very many useful alternatives. thank you, good to seak alternatives. thank you, good to s - eak to alternatives. thank you, good to speak to from — the price of gold has peaked above $2,200 dollars an ounce for the first time in its history. that is all for now. goodbye. this welcome from the bbc sport centre. hello from the bbc sport centre. lets start with tennis, and andy murray scribbled "there's life in the old dog yet" on the camera lens, after he came from a set down to beat matteo berrettini in round one of the miami open. berrettini appeared to almost collapse during the second set of their match — the italian player lost his balance, as he was preparing to serve — struggling with dizziness. he was deemed fit enough to play though — and ended up losing in three sets to murray — who won the final one 6—4 to reach the second round where he will face argentine 29th seed tomas martin etcheverry — who beat him earlier this year in the first round of the australian open. aryna sabalenka has said �*her heart is broken' after the death of her ex—boyfriend. konstantin koltsov — a former belarusian professional ice hockey player — was found dead at a hotel in miami on monday. police investigating the death have said it was an "apparent suicide" after they found no evidence of "foul play". sabalenka — who is seeded second at the miami open, is set to continue playing — and will face a close friend spaniard paula badosa on friday. badosa admitted playing against sabalenka will be uncomfortable. its a big night for wales later — they face finland at the cardiff city stadium, in their euro 2024 qualifying playoff semi—final. the winner will face poland or estonia next tuesday to decide who makes it to germany this summer. having failed to qualify for a major tournament between 1958 and 2016, wales are aiming to reach their 3rd successive euros — and the pressure of playoff football is nothing new for the welsh, who memorably beat austria and ukraine in 2022 en—route to qualifying for their first