UK interest rates unchanged for seventh consecutive month
by Kay Murchie
The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee has today elected to keep UK interest rates on hold at the record low of 0.5% for the seventh month in a row.
The move was widely expected after a week of mixed economic data, which suggests that the UK may not have exited recession in the third quarter as hoped - official data due on 23 October will reveal if the UK has emerged from recession.
Earlier this month, official figures showed that UK industrial output fell unexpectedly in August, which led the National Institute of Economic and Social Research to predict that the UK economy failed to grow in the third quarter.
In last month’s minutes, the Bank said its Monetary Policy Members were fearful of “false dawns” and are worried over an “uncertain” recovery.
Meanwhile, the Bank of England has decided to leave its quantitative easing (QE) programme unchanged at £175 billion - in spite of requests from many business leaders to up it to £200 billion.
In other news, the European Central Bank is also expected to hold interest rates at a record low of 1%. The decision is due later today.
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