LONDON (AP) — The Bank of England is expected to keep interest rates unchanged Thursday even though inflation in the United Kingdom has risen to a five-month high as the fallout from the Iran war continues to ratchet up fuel prices.
Economists expect a majority of the nine-member Monetary Policy Committee will want to see more evidence that higher inflation is feeding into underlying prices and wages and will therefore vote to keep the bank's main rate unchanged at 3.75% for the sixth consecutive meeting.
Official figures released Wednesday showed that rising prices at the pump and airfares were largely behind the increase in the U.K.’s consumer prices index to 3.1% in August from 2.9% the month before. The increase moved inflation further above the Bank of England’s 2% target.
David Rees, head of global economics at Schroders, is one of the many economists who think interest rates will be held because the economic backdrop, such as wages and the labor market, remains relatively soft.
“That should limit the extent to which imported price pressures become embedded in domestic wages and prices,” he said.
Many economists are forecasting higher inflation in coming months as households face another increase in their domestic energy bills beginning in October. As a result, the consensus in financial markets is that interest rates will be raised at one of the next two meetings, either in November or December.
Interest rates in the U.K. had been trending downward from a 15-year high of 5.25% until the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran in late February. The Iran war led to sharp increases in oil and gas prices, partly because the crucial Strait of Hormuz has been largely closed to traffic ever since.
As well as impacting the cost of personal loans and mortgages, the uptick in interest rate expectations is a growing problem for the British government as the servicing of its debt accounts for a higher proportion of its spending.
FILE -Pedestrians walk past the Bank of England in London, April 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)
DENVER (AP) — Ethan Salas hit his first two home runs and became the youngest catcher in major league history with a multi-homer game as the San Diego Padres beat the Colorado Rockies 9-3 on Wednesday night.
San Diego moved 3 1/2 games ahead of Arizona for the last National League wild card when the Diamondbacks lost 4-3 to Miami at home.
Salas opened the second inning with a first-pitch shot off Rockies starter Mason Adams (0-1) that traveled 426 feet to center field, becoming the youngest catcher to homer in the majors since 19-year-old Iván Rodríguez in 1991.
Salas added a two-run drive that capped San Diego’s four-run fifth and made it 8-1. At 20 years, 107 days, he broke the record held by Butch Wynegar, who was 20 years, 192 days when he hit two home runs for Minnesota on Sept. 22, 1976.
San Diego (83-69) won for the ninth time in 10 games and prevented the rival Los Angeles Dodgers from clinching the NL West title — at least for one night.
Robbie Ray (13-8) allowed three runs and three hits with six strikeouts in six innings for the Padres.
Samad Taylor and Ty France each drove in two runs for San Diego, and Jackson Merrill had three hits.
France hit a sacrifice fly that drove in Fernando Tatis Jr. Jake Cronenworth added an RBI single to give the Padres a 2-0 lead in the first inning.
Kyle Karros hit a two-run homer in the sixth for the Rockies, and Adael Amador had an RBI groundout in the first.
Taylor singled leading off the fourth, stole second base and scored on a triple by Dustin Harris to make it 4-1. Taylor added a two-run single in the fifth.
Adams allowed six runs and eight hits in 4 1/3 innings.
Padres RHP Michael King (11-9, 3.03 ERA) starts Thursday against RHP Tanner Gordon (1-4, 5.55) in the series finale.
See AP’s full MLB coverage here
San Diego Padres' Samad Taylor breaks from the batter's box after connecting for a single to drive in two runs off Colorado Rockies relief pitcher Nick Frasso in the fifth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Colorado Rockies third baseman Kyle Karros throws to first base to put out San Diego Padres' Jake Cronenworth in the fifth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
San Diego Padres' Dustin Harris breaks from the batter's box after connecting for an RBI triple off Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Mason Adams in the fourth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
San Diego Padres' Ethan Salas gestures to the bullpen as he circles the bases after hitting a two-run home run off Colorado Rockies relief pitcher Nick Frasso in the fifth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)wld
San Diego Padres catcher Ethan Salas watches his two-run home run off Colorado Rockies relief pitcher Nick Frasso in the fifth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
