Base rate unchanged

The Bank of England has announced that the Bank Base Rate will remain unchanged at 0.5 per cent for the next month.

The rate has remained unchanged for over two years, since March 2009.

Few commentators are expecting rates to rise in the near future, as both the Government and the Bank of England have said that it is more important to stimulate the economic recovery than it is to reduce inflation – one of the key ways inflation can be controlled is by raising interest rates. This is in spite of the fact that the European Central Bank has raised rates by 0.5 per cent today.