One more rate hike in Britain. Who’s next?

News of the day, Friday, March 18

Yesterday the Bank of England raised the interest rate for the third time since December — by a quarter-point to 0.75 returning it to a pre-pandemic level. The financial regulator expects inflation to grow to 8% in the second quarter of 2022, which is nearly 1% higher than its past forecasts from February, before the start of the Ukraine invasion. The Monetary Policy Committee said that tensions in Europe would “accentuate both the peak in inflation and the adverse impact on activity by intensifying the squeeze on household incomes”. This week on Wednesday, the Federal Reserve of the US also brought out an interest rate hike. The series of monetary policy tightening moves by the central banks of Western countries have been planned for a while. However, the war in Ukraine with the following economic aftermath, e.g., sanctions, supply chain disruptions, and commodities rally leaves no space for stalling for most economies.

The price of Brent crude is $109.40, WTI — $106.00, GBP/USD — 1.3170, EUR/USD — 1.1092, and gold costs $1934.50 per ounce.