Bank of England’s interest rate rises again, says Stuart

Since December 2021, the Bank of England's benchmark interest rate has been at historically low levels for the past decade, and has gone up consistently since. It is now 4%, having risen from 0.1%.

The quartet of bank bosses argued that this debate incorrectly centered on the interest rate on instant-access savings accounts, which generally have a return of less than 1%, because they said they were the highest-paid panel that had sat before the committee for some time - collectively earning more than 10 m a year.

Only one in four people has 100 savings in their account, said Dame Alison. We have targeted savings for young people's accounts as well. Stuart pointed out a new fixed-rate deal, launched by HSBC on the same day as the hearing, was the first five-year deal with an interest rate of less than 4% since early October.

He claimed that mortgage rates were falling, despite the Bank rate still rising, and were much less than predicted after the mini-budget.

He said that the headwinds are ahead of us, not behind us when it comes to the number of people who are falling behind on mortgage payments.

In 1982, customer behaviours started to change with the advent of the cash machine, and it has sped up and it has been on a journey from that point, he said.