10 July 2008
There have been calls for the Bank of England's monetary policy committee (MPC) to lower the base rate of interest when it reveals the outcome of its two-day monthly meeting later today. The National Estate Agents Association (NAEA) has stated that consumer confidence will be improved if interest rates drop from their current level of five per cent. Chief executive of the NAEA Peter Bolton King explained: "We understand that there are significant pressures on the wider economy at this time. As a result we urge the Bank of England not to raise rates today and to decrease them as soon as possible." Furthermore, the body urged the government to consider increasing funding levels to the mortgage market. It is widely expected that the base rate will stay at five per cent this month as an Adfero poll of nine economists and financial institutions predicted a hold vote by the MPC. In fact, Ross Walker, economist at the Royal Bank of Scotland, has forecast that the base rate will not change until 2009.