News Tag: Bank of England
July 20, 2011
Minutes of the Bank of England’s July 6-7 meeting have been released today and have revealed the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) again voted 7-2 to lift interest rates and 8-1 to restart the Bank’s quantitative easing (QE) scheme.
Adam Posen, again, called for an injection of £50 billion via the QE scheme to boost the economy.
Martin Weale and ...
Bank minutes suggest low rates for some time to come
by Kay Mitchell
July 7, 2011
The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has today elected to keep UK interest rates on hold at the historically low level of 0.5%, as widely expected.
Interest rates have now been at this low level since March 2009 – when the economy was in the midst of recession.
Recent figures show the economy appears to be faltering so it ...
UK interest rates remain on hold
by Kay Mitchell
Low interest rates hit savers
by Kay Mitchell
UK interest rates to remain on hold today
by Kay Mitchell
July 4, 2011
According to figures from the Bank of England, Britons increased their financial stake in their homes by £5.8 billion in the first quarter of 2011 – the smallest injection in a year.
The figure was much lower than the £7.1 billion in the October to December period in 2010 – which represented the highest since records began in 1970.
The figures suggest the ...
BoE reveals housing equity injection slows
by Kay Mitchell
June 29, 2011
The Bank of England has today revealed mortgage approvals remained weak in May.
According to the Bank, there were 45,940 loans approved in the month – slightly higher than April’s 45,447 but lower than forecasts of a level of 46,100.
Furthermore, May’s figure was lower than the average for the previous six months.
Today’s figures reinforce expectations that the housing market will ...
BoE: Mortgage approvals remain weak in May
by Kay Mitchell
June 28, 2011
According to Sir Mervyn King, the Governor of the Bank of England, a surge in home repossessions is unlikely as UK interest rates are set to remain low.
Repossessions have fallen over recent times and many experts have previously argued that homeowners have been saved from repossession because of historically low interest rates, which has driven monthly mortgage repayments down.
Giving ...
Bank of England: Home repossessions to stay low
by Kay Mitchell
June 22, 2011
Consumer group Which? has warned homeowners with SVR mortgages that they will be financially squeezed once interest rates are lifted.
A Standard Variable Rate (SVR) is a mortgage in which the rate of interest is varied from time to time by the lender but it is usually set at about 2% above the Bank of England’s interest rate.
Consequently, ...
SVR mortgage holders will suffer when interest rates rise
by Kay Mitchell
Just two policy members vote for interest rate rise
by Kay Mitchell
June 21, 2011
One of the members of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), Paul Fisher, has argued that the central bank is right to keep interest rates low.
His comments come despite leading business groups urging the bank to lift rates to combat soaring inflation, which is currently more than double its 2% target.
Last week, Bank of England Governor Mervyn King ...
BoE policymaker supports low interest rates
by Kay Mitchell
June 16, 2011
The Bank of England's new Financial Policy Committee (FPC) is set to hold its first quarterly meeting today.
The FPC, which was first unveiled by Chancellor George Osborne a year ago, has been established to regulate financial services and markets.
The idea behind the FPC follows the Government’s criticism of the Financial Services Authority (FSA) for not doing enough to ...
New Financial Policy Committee holds first quarterly meeting
by Kay Mitchell
June 14, 2011
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) today announced Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) held steady at an annual rate of 4.5% in May – the highest level since October 2008.
However, the figure was in line with forecasts and high inflation has been attributed to rising energy and food prices.
Today’s figures mean inflation continues to be well above the target of ...
UK inflation remains at 2½-year high in May
by Kay Mitchell
June 13, 2011
In its influential Quarterly Bulletin, the Bank of England said interest rates can be held at the historic low of 0.5% in order to prevent growth from stalling.
The statement comes despite inflation being more than double the target of 2% and many business groups are calling on the bank to lift rates to combat soaring inflation.
However, the central ...
BoE report suggests low interest rates in the short-term
by Kay Mitchell
June 9, 2011
The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has today elected to keep UK interest rates on hold at the historically low level of 0.5%, as widely expected.
Interest rates have now been at this low level since March 2009 – when the economy was in the midst of recession.
Recent figures show the economy appears to be faltering so it ...
UK interest rates remain on hold
by Kay Mitchell
June 2, 2011
Policymaker Paul Fisher has said the Bank of England is right not to have lifted interest rates from their current low of 0.5%, suggesting the economy is still too fragile.
His comments in the Daily Mail come despite calls from business groups to raise interest rates to curb inflation – which is currently running at more than double the target of 2%.
However, Mr ...
Policymaker against lifting interest rates
by Kay Mitchell
June 1, 2011
The Bank of England has today revealed mortgage approvals fell in April.
According to the Bank, there were 45,166 loans approved in the month – 4% down on March’s figure and 9% lower than in April 2010.
Not only was the figure less than expected, it represented the lowest figure for April since records began more in 1992.
Many experts have ...
BoE: Mortgage approvals hit new low for April
by Kay Mitchell
May 25, 2011
The Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has today said the Bank of England should lift interest rates to combat stubbornly high inflation.
UK economic growth is being hampered by soaring inflation, which is having a major impact on consumer spending.
As a result, the Organisation revised its growth forecasts for the UK, expecting growth to be 1.4% in ...
OECD: Bank of England should lift interest rates
by Kay Mitchell
May 23, 2011
Figures published by the Bank of England today have revealed that the “big five” banks loaned £16.8 billion to SMEs in the first quarter – around £2 billion short of the £19 billion target – agreed under the “Project Merlin”.
Under the agreement, Project Merlin, Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds, HSBC and Santander all committed to lend £190 billion to ...
Big five banks miss SME lending target
by Kay Mitchell
May 18, 2011
Minutes of the Bank of England’s May 4-5 meeting have been released today and have revealed the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) again voted 6-3 to lift interest rates and 8-1 to restart the Bank’s quantitative easing (QE) scheme.
Adam Posen, again, called for an injection of £50 billion via the QE scheme to boost the economy.
For the fourth consecutive ...
Three policy members again vote for interest rate rise
by Kay Mitchell
May 17, 2011
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) today announced Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) surged to an annual rate of 4.5% in April – a level not seen since October 2008 and higher than forecasts of a rise to 4.2%.
The surprise surge in inflation comes after the rate dropped to 4% in March and was attributed to soaring travel costs around the ...
UK inflation soars to 2½-year high in April
by Kay Mitchell
Economy News
