Britain cuts interest rate from 4.5% to 3%

LONDON: The Bank of England (BOE) shocked the country and the rest of the world yesterday by slashing 1.5 percentage points off interest rates as part of its efforts to ward off an economic recession.

The highest cut (from 4.5 to 3 percent) since the BOE was granted independence in 1997 takes the rate to the lowest level in half a century.

The move is apparently in response to huge pressure from industry and unions to make a deep cut in rates.