Bank holds interest rates at 0.5%

Date: 10th December 2009

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) at the Bank of England has decided to make no changes to interest rates and quantitative easing this month.

Members of the nine-strong group voted to keep the base rate at its all-time low of 0.5 per cent and to maintain the size of the money-printing programme at £200 billion.

The MPC has imposed the radical measures over recent months to boost lending flows in the economy and make loans easier to secure for consumers and small businesses.

Commenting on the decision, Ray Boulger at mortgage broker John Charcol said that there is currently "little pressure" on the Bank to raise rates, as inflation remains relatively low.

He added: "The fact that George Osborne has stated on more than one occasion recently that he expects interest rates to stay low for some time indicates that he does not expect the fiscal policies he intends to adopt after a general election victory to change the MPC's medium term outlook for interest rates."

The MPC has held the base rate at 0.5 per cent since March.

Posted by Anthony Burns