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Interest rates held at 3.75% but Bank warns Iran war could mean future hike

Maike Currie, vice president of personal finance at PensionBee, said: “The Bank is caught between two competing pressures. Raise rates and you pile more pain onto borrowers and businesses. Cut rates too soon and you risk higher energy costs becoming embedded in wages and prices.

“An energy shock thousands of miles away can travel remarkably quickly into the family budget – through the mortgage, petrol pump, energy bill, shopping trolley and airline ticket. It makes for an exceptionally challenging backdrop for UK households, one the Chancellor will have to confront in next month’s Budget.”

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