Bank of England faces calls for tougher action in rate decisions

The Bank of England is expected to raise interest rates by a quarter point to 4.75 per cent on Thursday, with increasing calls for tougher action to fight persistent high inflation.

Headline inflation stuck at 8.7 per cent in May, according to worse than expected data on Wednesday, with core inflation — which excludes volatile food and energy prices — rising to 7.1 per cent, the highest level since 1992.

Some economists said the…