Will the Bank of England steal Christmas by putting up interest rates?

Higher borrowing costs will hit hard-pressed families, but the City is betting on an interest rise this week

After Rishi Sunak's budget, it's over to the Bank of England. On Thursday this week Threadneedle Street will put an end to the frenzied will-they, won't-they speculation on the matter of whether we are about to see the first interest rate rise since the onset of Covid-19.

Financial markets are betting this is the moment of lift-off from the current historic low of 0.1%, against a backdrop of soaring inflation and with the economy within a hair's breadth of its pre-pandemic peak.