News
Interest rates held at 0.5%
The Bank of England (BoE) has kept interest rates at 0.5% for the seventh consecutive month.
The BoE’s quantitative easing programme will not be extended but the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has confirmed it will continue.
Analysts widely expected the base rate to remain at its all-time low of 0.5% following signs that the UK economy may be coming out of recession.
Jonathan Cornell, head of communications at First Action Finance, said: “No one will be surprised to see that the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee has decided to keep the base rate on hold at 0.5% for the seventh month in a row. The chances of any other decision were pretty minimal to say the least.”
Ray Boulger, senior technical director at John Charcol, said the decision to hold rates may have been a bit of a “non event” but there was at last some action back in the mortgage market.
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“September saw the usual seasonal upturn and over the last few days we have at last started to see some real competition from lenders, albeit primarily for lower LTV business. Woolwich, Northern Rock, Abbey, Alliance & Leicester, Principality and Coventry have all announced cheaper deals this week which is good news for borrowers.”