Bank of England slow to raise interest rates

The Bank of England kept interest rates steady at a record low 0.5% yesterday, judging that the outlook for prices and wages is still too weak for it to raise the cost of borrowing despite solid growth prospects.

The bank issued no statement but governor Mark Carney will explain more tomorrow, when he presents a quarterly update to the central bank’s forecasts for growth and inflation.

Most economists do not expect the bank to raise interest rates which have been unchanged for more than six years until early 2016. None of those polled by Reuters last week expected the bank to raise rates this month.