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People smoke outside the Bank of England in London's City financial district, Thursday, Jan. 13, 2011. The Bank of England is today expected to resist pressure to hike UK interest rates despite fears over surging inflation and commodity prices. Policymakers are unlikely to raise the Bank's base rate, which is at an all-time low of 0.5%, for fear of jeopardising the feeble economic recovery. However some economists think the Bank will have to act soon in order to control inflation, which hit 3.3% as measured by the consumer price index (CPI) in November, fueled by the rising cost of food, clothes and oil. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)