Current Best Buy rates as of

 

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Latest Interest Rate News

Where in the World are interest rates rising?

China have recently anounced its plan to hike the reserve requirement ratio by half a percentage point today.

The action by the People's Bank of China, which came after markets closed this morning, means banks have to hold more in their reserves, leading to them having less money to loan out.

This all points to another rise in interest rates in China on Monday, following an earlier hike in February from 5.81% to 6.06%.

Interest rates are a hot topic around the world, as countries assess the impact of recent developments in the Middle East and Japan.

Global events have caused a pullback in rate rise expectations in the UK. The cost of borrowing was left at 0.5% at the monetary policy committee's March meeting, marking exactly two years of unchanged rates.

Expectations for rates rises gained ground at the end of 2010 as hopes for the economy grew. But the biggest boost came in mid-January when high December inflation figures were published.

More recently, the Organisation for Economic cooperation and Development (OECD) warned the UK that to maintain a sustained recovery, it has to keep its interest rates low – even at the risk of high inflation.