Interest rates held by Bank of England
The Bank of England has held interest rates yet again.
The base rate of interest for the UK has been held for another month by the Bank of England.
Following its monthly meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee, the bank announced interest rates are to remain at a record low of 0.5 per cent.
With the new governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney having previously revealed rates will remain as they are until unemployment drops below seven per cent, the news came as no surprise.
This was in contrast to the shock announcement from the European Central Bank that it is cutting its own base rate to 0.25 per cent from 0.5 per cent – a new record low.
David Kern, chief economist at the British Chambers of Commerce, described the decision to hold both interest rates and quantitative easing as "correct".
He said: "However, as the pace of economic growth strengthens, it is becoming clear that the first rise in official interest rates is likely to occur well before the committee's 2016 prediction, due to the earlier than anticipated fall in unemployment."
Interest rates in the UK have been held by the Bank at 0.5 per cent since March 2010.
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