UK raises interest rates as central banks focus on inflation

By PAN PYLAS and DAVID McHUGH
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — The United Kingdom’s central bank has become the first in a major advanced economy to raise interest rates since the coronavirus pandemic began. Banks controlling monetary policy around the globe are shifting their focus from stimulating the economy to combating soaring consumer prices that arrived during the recovery. The moves come despite the threat that the new omicron variant of COVID-19 poses. The European Central Bank took a much more cautious approach than the Bank of England on Thursday. The U.S. Federal Reserve decided this week to speed up its exit from pandemic crisis support, while Norway raised rates and Turkey cut them.