In its first meeting with the new governor, Mark Carney, the central bank also kept the stock of asset purchases required for quantitative easing at £375bn.
The Bank’s report said the Monetary Policy Committee had noted the sharp global rise in market interest rates but that the economic recovery in the UK remained weak.
It continued: “In the committee’s view, the implied rise in the expected future path of Bank Rate was not warranted by the recent developments in the domestic economy.”
George Osborne has requested the committee consider whether it would be appropriate to provide some forward guidance on possible future interest rate rises. However, this will not be discussed until August.
After US Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke suggested he might begin to taper his quantitative easing programme in June, speculation about the possibility of a rise in interest rates spread.
The uncertainty was accentuated by the first change of leadership at the Bank of England for ten years.
