Bank of England leave interest rate unchanged

Members of the Bank of England voted unanimously in July against a third successive interest rate rise, it emerged today.

The nine members of the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided to keep rates on hold at 4.5% after the Bank’s May inflation report showed that inflation would be below target for most of the forecast period.

The Committee said an unexpected rate increase in the absence of significant economic news in the month beforehand might spark “an unwarranted re-evaluation of the committee strategy by market participants”.

Members also said that waiting until the publication of the Bank’s August inflation report would give them an opportunity to review the economic news since May more fully, the minutes of the meeting said.