[Pierre]

Interest rate rises are a tool that can be used to put a brake on inflation, but that was not the reason in this case.

Inflation has remained fairly stable recently at around 2.3%/ 2.4% since May, and down from it's peak of 3.1% in November last year, so there is no reason to raise interest rates for that reason.

The reason is that the economy is likely to do well for the remainder of 2018 therefore the economy should be able to handle a smooth gradual increase of interest rates. The Bank of England would ideally like to see interest rates get up to a workable level of 2.5 - 3.0% over the next few years.

Having interest rates down at below 1% really hampers the ability of the bank to intervene in a meaningful way should need to stimulate the economy in the future.

If all things go to plan I would expect the interest rates to be 1% - 1.25% by the end of the year.