Britain’s central bank, the Bank of England (BoE), decided on Feb. 3 to raise interest rates from 0.25 percent to 0.5 percent to curb rampant inflation. The Bank’s nine-member monetary policy committee (MPC) voted five to four in favour of the decision. The four dissenting members all voted for a bigger increase of 0.75 percent. This is the second interest rate rise in three months, making it the first back-to-back rise since 2004. In December, the BoE raised rates by 0.15 percentage points to 0.25 percent, becoming the first major central bank to hike interest rates since the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic began. The MPC said on Feb. 3 that it expects the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which rose to a near 30-year high of 5.4 percent in December, to move close to 6 percent in February and March. It is then expected to peak at 7.25 percent …