LONDON—British businesses are scaling back plans for pay rises and hiring, but almost half intend to increase the prices they charge customers as they seek to manage rapidly rising costs, a survey showed on Monday. The figures from a monthly Lloyds Bank survey will give mixed signals to the Bank of England on the persistence of inflation pressures—and the extent to which they will hamper growth—as it considers a widely expected rate rise this week. A record 49 percent of the 1,200 businesses surveyed between Jan. 4 and Jan. 18 said they expected to raise prices, up from 45 percent in December. But the proportion expecting to raise pay by 2 percent—well below the current 5.4 percent rate of inflation—fell to a five-month low of 41 percent from 48 percent in December. The number planning pay rises of 3 percent fell to 21 percent from 26 percent and those share …
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