9 May 2005
The Bank of England has given the UK's credit card suppliers a boost today after its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) continued the freeze on interest rates.
The decision to keep rates at 4.75 per cent was widely expected by economists despite being delayed by four days to avoid a clash with the general election.
It is the ninth consecutive time the rate has been maintained although with several leading figures pushing for a rise to five per cent, some are suggesting that this will be the last unchanged announcement.
This isn't a unanimous belief however with some analysts still insisting that the MPC will not raise interest rates and might even begin to think about lowering them.
Global Insight's chief UK economist Howard Archer said: "A month ago, we had believed that a 0.25 per cent interest rate hike was highly possible at the May MPC meeting. This belief was temporarily boosted by the news that consumer price inflation had spiked up to 1.9 per cent in March.
"Events since then have caused us to change our view. Not only do we now expect the MPC to leave interest rates unchanged on Monday, but we are now seriously wavering in our long-held belief that the eventual next move in interest rates will be up."
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