Bank of England leaves rates at 5.0%

10 July 2008

Expert predictions were correct for July bank rate

The Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has voted to leave interest rates unchanged at 5.0% for the third month running.

The MPC first decided to reduce interest rates from 5.25% to 5.0% in April this year.

The decision to leave rates unchanged had been widely expected by experts even though the business community had been calling for cuts because of the current economic slowdown.

However, because inflation is currently 1.3% above the 2% target the Bank was not likely to cut rates this month.

Last month, the MPC did talk about the possibility of increasing interest rates to try and stave off inflation. However, none of the nine MPC members voted for this to happen last month.