Bank of England interest rates stay at 0.5%

Posted: 09 Jul 2009 14:06:21 GMT

As widely expected, the Bank of England interest rates will remain at 0.5 per cent this month.

The Bank's monetary policy committee announced the news at noon today and also suggested that it will be continuing with its £125 billion asset purchase programme for another month.

It will assess the scale of the scheme - which is financed by the issuance of central bank reserves - at the next meeting in August.

The Bank of England interest rates have now stayed at this record low level since March 2009.

Many economists and financial experts predict that there will be no change in the base rate for the rest of the year, although this view is no longer as widespread as it was in the spring.

Speaking earlier this week, economist at finance data research group Defaqto Michael Baxter said: "It is certainly way too early for [the Bank] to increase the rate of interest."


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