Inflation vs. omicron: Bank of England faces rate dilemma

By PAN PYLAS
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — The Bank of England faces a difficult dilemma over whether to increase interest rates. Though consumer prices are rising at their fastest rate in a decade, the emergence of the omicron variant of the coronavirus has stoked concerns over the economic recovery. As a result, the central bank is expected to err on the side of caution Thursday and keep its main interest rate unchanged from a record-low 0.1%. If the Bank of England were to raise rates, it would be the first central bank within the world’s leading economies to do so since the pandemic began.