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
and israel election officials confirm benjamin netanyahu and his far right allies as the winners in tuesday s vote he s set to return for a record sixth term as prime minister. the bank of england has warned that the uk is facing its longest recession since records began, as it raised interest rates by the most in 33 years. the 0.75% point rise the eighth consecutive hike takes uk rates to 3%, meaning higher mortgage bills for many homeowners. the bank of england s move matches the us federal reserve s rate hike on wednesday, as central banks around the world battle to combat inflation. here s the bank of england governor. these are big changes. they have a real impact on people s lives. so why are we doing it and why are we doing it now when so many people are struggling with higher energy and food prices and other bills? we are increasing bank rate because inflation is too high. it is the bank sjob to bring it inflation is too high. it is the bank s job to bring it do
hello and welcome to audiences in the uk and around the world. we start on wall street where stock markets have suffered their worst first half of the year in more than five decades. as of the close on thursday, the s&p 500 index of top us firms has lost more than 20% between january and june, a sell off on a scale not seen since 1970 when president nixon was in the white house. for the tech dominated nasdaq, it s been even worse a near 30% fall for the first half is the worst in its history. from new york, samira hussain has more. the sell off of the stock market over the last six months has been brought. it is not just one sector bearing the brunt of losses, but a range of companies from disney to apple tokamak target. the latest economic data indicates actually the road ahead may be getting even bumpier. the federal reserve s regional bank in atlanta has been closely watched for the gross domestic product and gdp, which today signalled that the us economy will have shrun
would shop, c4 sharply in april probably because some of those factors drop out of the figures, but they also said it is not as far or as fast as they previously thought. inflation is really sticky in the uk. inflation is really sticky in the uk. they said inflation would drop sharply. uk. they said inflation would dmp sharply- drop sharply. that s because of second-round drop sharply. that s because of second-round effects drop sharply. that s because of second-round effects where . second round effects where businesses, for example, faced with higher costs. they need to do something about that in order to preserve their profitability they might change that into higher prices so we see high prices on supermarket shelves, shops, bars and restaurants, and similarly we have a major labour shortage in the uk so that means workers can bid for higher wages and we have seen quite significant wage growth in the uk. again, that can add to price pressures for businesses and in turn