The Bank of England joined Norway and Switzerland in hiking interest rates Thursday to tackle stubbornly-high inflation, though banking-sector turmoil could soon lead to a pause in US tightening as hinted by the Federal Reserve. A day after the Fed lifted US borrowing costs by 25 basis points, the BoE did the same as its key rate reached 4.25 per cent -- the highest level since the 2008 global financial crisis.