Britain ‘already in recession’ says Bank of England as interest rates rise by 0.5%

A 0.5 percentage-point rise to interest rates announced on Thursday was smaller than expected – but will nonetheless add nearly £600 to the annual average tracker mortgage and experts are predicting more rises to come.

The Bank of England’s move to deliver 2.25% defied market expectations and came despite the US Federal Reserve announcing its third 0.75-point hike in a row.

It said it now expects a 0.1 per cent fall in GDP over the current quarter, indicating that Britain is in a recession.