The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee has voted to keep interest rates on hold at 0.5% and not to further extent the program of Quantitative Easing.
The decision to keep base rate at 0.5% is hardly a surprise and represents the 36th consecutive month that rates have remained unchanged.
The decision not to further extend the program of QE, which was pushed to £325 billion last month, was again expected.
Savers will of course be disappointed by the news that rates are to remain unchanged, and indeed show no sign of rising in the future.
Mortgage holders with interest rates linked to the base rate, known as Tracker mortgages, will of course be pleased by today’s news. Although today’s decision will come as little consolation for those borrowers with mortgage products linked the Standard Variable Rate after the news this week that mortgage lenders Halifax, Natwest RBS, and Santander, amongst others, have all increased their Standard Variable Rate despite the record low base rate.
