Bank of England keeps rates at 0.5%

by Richard Kilner

Story link: Bank of England keeps rates at 0.5%

The MPC (Monetary Policy Committee) of the Bank of England has today elected to retain the interest rate at 0.5%.

In addition, the MPC has chosen to keep the scale of the quantitative easing asset purchase programme at £200bn, and not to expand it further.

The United Kingdom’s interest rate has now been unchanged for a year, and is at the lowest level in the three centuries of the Bank of England’s existence.

Many central banks have held rates at a constant low level since the financial crisis, to help provide a monetary stimulus to the economy.

However, there have been some exceptions, with the Bank of Australia increasing rates by 100 basis points over a five month period.

In the UK, the emergence from recession remains weak, and is expected to remain so for the foreseeable future.