Kwasi Kwarteng and the Bank of England came under growing pressure on Tuesday to take more dramatic action to prop up the pound, as homeowners faced a steep hike in borrowing rates. Although the pound rallied on Tuesday morning, hitting $1.08 in early trading, some senior Conservatives want the Chancellor to go further to calm financial markets. Last night some of the country’s biggest lenders pulled mortgage deals following sterling’s fall to an all-time low against the dollar on Monday. Homeowners are already facing a painful rise in their monthly mortgage payments as banks and building societies reprice their rates to reflect last week’s rise in the Bank of England’s base rate to 2.25 per cent. While Government borrowing costs — a benchmark used by mortgage lenders to set interest rates for homeowners — fell by 0.2 percentage points today after hitting 4 per cent yesterday, many borrowers face a huge jump in their home loan repayment costs.

Source: The Times September 27, 2022 10:26 UTC