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The Bank of England (BOE) raised interest rates for the first time in more than 10 years Thursday, a landmark move after borrowing costs had slumped to the lowest level on record.

Alongside Governor Mark Carney, the majority of rate-setters at the U.K.'s central bank voted in favor of hiking the benchmark rate to 0.5 percent from 0.25 percent. The bank's key rate is crucial for the economy as it is used to price all sorts of bank loans and mortgages.

Carney stressed that rates would "gently" rise as inflation eases in the foreseeable future. The central bank expects the inflation rate to have peaked at 3.2 percent in October — and will be at 3 percent for the year as a whole. The bank had previously said that inflation would be 2.8 percent for 2017.

Meantime, the BOE said Thursday it now forecast Britain's economy would grow by 1.6 percent in 2018 and by 1.7 percent the year after, unchanged from projections it made in August and in line with a new, slower, sustainable rate.

Reference: CNBC
Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/02/bank-of-england-hikes-rates-for-the-first-time-in-a-decade.html