Interest rates up

IN an effort to control inflation, a major move by the Bank Of England saw them raise interest rates by half a point to 5 per cent.

As reported on Thursday, June 22 the Bank Of England increased interest rates to combat inflation which is causing misery for households up and down the UK, according to a news source.

The Bank’s monetary policy committee (MPC) took the bold move of a half­point increase rather than the anticipated quarter­point rise. This will be the 13th consecutive hike in rates since December 2021, bringing it to the highest level since 2008.

Following the announcement, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the government would “remain steadfast in its course” to slow down rising inflation, a decision which comes amid growing calls to intervene as millions of householders are struggling with mortgage payments.

The PM expanded his view: “The reason interest rates are going up is because inflation is too high. This is something that makes everybody poorer, that’s what inflation does. That’s why we’ve got to grip it, we’ve got to reduce it and interest rates are a part of that.’

Sunak reiterated the enormity of the problem: “Now, I always said this would be hard ­ and clearly it’s got harder over the past few months ­ but it’s important that we do do that.’

Yesterday’s figures showed that inflation remained at 8.7 per cent in

May, when all expectations predicted, it would fall to 8.4 per cent. This is still a long, long way away from the Bank’s target of 2 per cent.

A spokesperson on behalf of the MPC said: “There has been significant upside news in recent data that indicates more persistence in the inflation process, against the backdrop of a tight labour market and continued resilience in demand.”

The Bank of England confirmed that it would continue to monitor the situation and if deemed necessary would push interest rates higher.

Denmark

Too soon

A SURVEY for Danish cancer charity Kræftens Bekæmpelse found that approximately 30,000 people aged between 15 and 24 needed emergency hospital treatment over the last year after drinking alcohol. The charity said the figures were “shocking” and called for the minimum age for buying alcohol to be raised from 16.

Cry wolf

TWENTY-NINE wolves currently live in Denmark, and the number is believed to be growing. Aarhus University’s Environment and Energy department has issued guidelines on how to react on encountering wolves in the wild while taking care not to disturb their natural habitats or accustom the animals to humans.

The Netherlands

Ancient site

DUTCH archaeologists discovered a 4,000year-old burial site which was also a solar calendar on industrial land in Tiel. A burial mound with the remains of approximately 60 men, women and children, contained several passages where the sun would have shone directly on the longest and shortest days of the year.

Mother tongue

FOREIGN students will soon need to be able to speak Dutch, announced Education Minister Robbert Dijkgraafand, who is under pressure to tackle the dominance of English as a teaching medium. Most bachelor degree courses will require two-thirds of their content to be offered in Dutch, he told a parliamentary committee.

Belgium

Equal footing

BELGIUM was ranked 10th in the world for gender equality by the World Economic Forum’s 2023 Gender Gap Report, moving up four places since last year. Iceland remained at the top of the list, followed by Norway and Finland. Algeria, Chad and Afghanistan occupied the last three places.

War footing

BELGIUM officially joined the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) programme as an observer. Bringing Brussels onto the team would not change the current contracts signed between France, Germany and Spain, officials said, but would accelerate the operational partnership between the four nations’ air force.