The Bank of England met again this week to discuss what it needs to do to tackle inflation. It spent 2022 and most of 2023 hiking interest rates, after sharp rises in the price of energy and food caused inflation to run rampant. But since September last year, policymakers at the Bank have kept rates fixed at 5.25%, a decision which they stuck with this week. Here the PA news agency looks at what the decision means, whether rates will fall soon and what the Bank expects to happen to the economy. – What happened to interest rates on Thursday? The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee held the base interest rate at 5.25% in May’s meeting. It is the sixth time it has kept rates unchanged since it stopped voting to increase rates in September. The rate previously rose 14 straight times from late 2021, taking it from 0.1% to its highest level since the 2008 financial crisis. – What will the decision to hold interest rates mean? The base rate dictates how much the Bank of England charges commercial banks to borrow money, which influences what those banks charge customers for mortgages and loans. Rate hikes in recent...