Bank of England to announce latest decision on interest rates

Dearbail Jordan
Reporting from the Bank of England

I’m at the Bank of England in London where, at midday, it will announce whether the UK interest rate has risen, fallen or stayed at 3.75%.

At the same time, BBC News will also publish a news story about it. How does this happen simultaneously? Well, we journalists get to see the announcement an hour or two before its wider release.

To do this, the Bank locks us all in its basement – solely because this is market sensitive information. Theoretically, a trader could make a lucrative bet on the decision if they had prior knowledge and so the Bank shuts us away to prevent leaks. That includes handing over our mobile phones and turning off the wi-fi.

During that time, we read about how the Bank reached its decision on the interest rate and, four times a year including today, have to digest a huge report setting out the Bank’s forecasts for the UK economy and inflation.

So, we read, we write, we trough tea and biscuits and by the time 12:00 BST rolls around, the wi-fi is switched on and the story flies through the ether from my laptop to you.

See you on the other side.