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BREAKING: Interest Rate, Increase to 15-Year High – Bank Of England

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The Bank of England on Thursday lifted its key interest rate to the highest level since the 2008 financial crisis, noting inflation remained stubbornly high but that the economy would now avoid recession this year.

The BoE hiked the rate by a quarter-point to 4.5 percent — its 12th increase in a row with UK annual inflation stuck above 10 percent, fuelling a cost-of-living crisis across Britain.

Global policymakers are battling elevated inflation caused largely by runaway energy bills following last year’s invasion of Ukraine by major oil and gas producer Russia.

Following a regular policy meeting, the BoE warned of “considerable uncertainties” on when UK inflation would return to its two-percent target, as soaring food prices offset sharp drops to energy costs.

At the same time, the central bank made a record upgrade to its British GDP forecast, adding there would be only a small impact from recent turmoil in the commercial banking sector.

“Six months ago, we were expecting a shallow but long recession,” BoE governor Andrew Bailey told a press conference.

“Since then, energy prices have fallen substantially and economic activity is holding up much better than expected.”

– ‘Modest but positive’ growth –

Bailey said the UK would this year experience “modest but positive economic growth and a much smaller increase in unemployment.

“We think inflation will fall quite sharply over the coming months,” he added.

Official data Friday is expected to show the UK economy grew during the first quarter of this year after narrowly avoiding recession in the last three months of 2022.

The rate decision comes one week after UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative government suffered a drubbing in local elections, as voters gave their verdict over rampant living costs despite government efforts to partly subsidise energy bills.

The nation has been plagued by strikes as high inflation erodes the value of wages. Train staff will walk out again on Friday following months of industrial action across the private and public sectors.

The latest BoE hike is set to deepen the crunch in living standards as retail banks pass on the increase, resulting in higher repayments on loans, including mortgages.

At the same time, those who can afford to save will benefit for increased fixed returns on investments.

“Although it is good news that the Bank of England is no longer forecasting recession, today’s interest rate rise will obviously be very disappointing for families with mortgages,” said British finance minister Jeremy Hunt.

– Highest inflation in G7 –

Thursday’s news took British borrowing costs to a level last seen in October 2008, before rates were slashed during the global financial crisis.

The BoE has ramped up borrowing costs from a record-low of 0.1 percent in December 2021.

Its latest hike came one week after the European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve implemented quarter-point rate increases as inflationary pressures ease only slightly in the eurozone and the United States.

UK annual inflation stood at 10.1 percent in March, the highest level in the Group of Seven richest nations.

Sunak and the BoE blame the high level in part on rises to pay and have urged employers to show restraint.

BoE chief economist Huw Pill recently stated that Britons need “to accept that they’re worse off and stop trying to maintain their real spending power by bidding up prices via higher wages”.

AFP

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Business

Government Can’t Run Business Effectively – Dele Oye

We all know the failed history of government being involved in business. Ajaokuta… they have blown $8 billion and have not produced one steel; they blew $3 billion on refineries rehabilitation… and nothing happened. We are not having any fuel from them

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Barr Dele Oye, the former president of NACCIMA, at the Vanguard Economic Discourse 2026 edition in Lagos on Wednesday, advised the federal government to limit its role to policy support and facilitation rather than involvement in commercial business activities.

Oye, now the Chairman of Alliance for Economic Research and Ethics (AERE) , cited past failures such as the Ajaokuta Steel Company and refineries rehabilitation projects.

He said: ” We all know the failed history of government being involved in business. Ajaokuta… they have blown $8 billion and have not produced one steel; they blew $3 billion on refineries rehabilitation… and nothing happened. We are not having any fuel from them.”

Oye maintained that government lacks the capacity to run businesses effectively.

” You have no track record in running any business… you cannot be government and also be private sector,” he said.

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John Ternus is Apple’s incoming CEO

John Ternus, Apple’s longtime hardware boss, is taking over as CEO, becoming just the second leader since Steve Jobs departed in 2011, less than two months before he died from cancer.

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• John Ternus / CNBC / Getty Images

Tim Cook’s 15-year tenure as Apple CEO comes to an end on Sept. 1, the company announced on Monday.

John Ternus, Apple’s longtime hardware boss, is taking over as CEO, becoming just the second leader since Steve Jobs departed in 2011, less than two months before he died from cancer.

CNBC reports that as Cook exits, Apple faces numerous challenges, including an intricate supply chain that’s complicated by geopolitical tensions and soaring prices for memory due to unprecedented demand from the AI buildout.

But for Ternus, perhaps the most critical aspect of his new job will be pushing the company deeper into AI, where it’s lagged many of its megacap peers.

It said that so far, Apple’s AI strategy has involved avoiding hefty capital expenditures while MicrosoftGoogleAmazon and Metacommit to hundreds of billions of dollars a year in combined capex to fund new data centers and fill them with pricey AI chips.

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NCC, CBN launch telecom industry portal to track fraudulent phone lines

“This means banks and other financial institutions can determine whether a line is active, swapped, disconnected, or reassigned to another subscriber.”

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The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), and the Central Bank of Nigeria ( CBN), have launched a portal that enables financial institutions to track fraudulent and suspicious phone lines across the country.

It is called the Telecoms Identity Risk Management System (TIRMS) portal , aimed at providing financial institutions with real-time visibility into the status of phone numbers used for transactions.

“The portal aggregates data on churned or recycled lines and numbers flagged for suspicious activities.

“This means banks and other financial institutions can determine whether a line is active, swapped, disconnected, or reassigned to another subscriber,” said the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Dr. Aminu Maida.

Speaking during the MoU signing event, Maida said that the agreement provides a structured framework for cooperation in critical areas, including payment system integrity, fraud mitigation, digital inclusion, and consumer protection.

On his part, Governor of CBN, Mr. Olayemi Cardoso, said the MoU would strengthen coordination on regulatory approvals, technical standards, and innovation initiatives, including sandbox testing.

He noted that the partnership aligns with the apex bank’s commitment to promoting a secure, resilient, and inclusive financial system.

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