London: The Bank of England (BoE) on Thursday cut its benchmark rate by 25 basis points to 4.50%, in line with the market forecasts.

According to Anadolu Agency, this marks the third rate cut since the bank began reducing borrowing costs last August, bringing the rate to its lowest level since June 2023. "In support of returning inflation sustainably to the 2% target, the Committee judges that there has been sufficient progress on disinflation in domestic prices and wages to reduce Bank Rate to 4.5% at this meeting," stated a BoE statement.

As inflation continued to decrease, seven of the Monetary Policy Committee's nine members supported the quarter-point rate cut, while two members voted for a more significant reduction of half a point to 4.25%. The statement also noted that the annual consumer inflation rate in the UK had decreased to 2.5% in December from 2.6% in November, which is above the bank's target of 2%.