Bank’s base rate gift to borrowers is wrapped in an inflation warning | Phillip Inman

The rate setters made clear that above-inflation pay claims would be likely to bring credit loosening to a halt

• Bank of England cuts base rate to 4%

• What the rate cut means for borrowers and savers

A reduction in interest rates by the Bank of England should rank as a joyful summer gift to borrowers weighed down by the high cost of mortgages and loans.

Yet the latest quarter-point cut to the cost of borrowing, from 4.25% to 4%, is laced with so many warnings that any celebration will be muted.