Interest rates are hot news again, but how clued-up are you about the subject? Find out in our quiz.
Interest rate rises are used to fight inflation. The government's official Consumer Prices Index stood at 3.1% in March. Many argue that the Retail Price Index offers a more realistic measure. What is the RPI figure?
2.3%
4.8%
7.9%
Question :1/7
When the CPI broke through the 3% ceiling, what did Mervyn King, the Governor of the Bank of England, have to do?
Write a letter of explanation to Gordon Brown
Grovel to Parliament
Throw himself off the roof of the Bank of England
Question :2/7
Which of the following does the Retail Price Index include that the CPI doesn't?
The average monthly price of cod
Mortgage interest payments
Fuel prices
Question :3/7
Over the last 20 years, the interest rate was at its highest in November 1979. What was the actual figure?
17%
19%
21%
Question :4/7
And who was the chancellor of the exchequer at the time?
Denis Healey
Sir Geoffrey Howe
Nigel Lawson
Question :5/7
The lowest base rate of the last 20 years was a tiny 3.5% But when?
July 2002
July 2003
July 2004
Question :6/7
The first official setting of the national base rate was in 1694, over 300 years ago. What was the initial figure though?
2%
4%
6%
Question :7/7
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