Central banks hike rates despite turmoil

THE Bank of England (BoE) joined Norway and Switzerland in hiking interest rates Thursday as inflation remained elevated, though banking-sector turmoil could soon lead to a pause in US tightening as hinted by the Federal Reserve (Fed).

A day after the Fed lifted US borrowing costs by 25 basis points (bps), the BoE did the same as its key rate reached 4.25 percent — the highest level since the 2008 global financial crisis.