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UK interest rates held at 0.5% by Bank of England

THE Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has kept UK interest rates on hold at 0.5%, and unveiled no new quantitative easing (QE) measures.

Both decisions were expected, but it will not be clear whether they were unanimous until the minutes of the meeting are released.

At the MPC’s November and October meetings, there was a three-way split among its nine members.

In those meetings, one member voted for a rate rise, another for more QE.

The most recent figures showed that Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation rose to 3.2% in October, well above the target rate of 2%.

However, most MPC members continue to favour keeping rates on hold to aid the UK’s economic recovery.

This comes ahead of VAT rising to 20% from 17.5% on 1 January, and the possible negative economic impact of the government’s spending cuts.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .