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Interest rates remain at record low

THE Bank of England has held UK interest rates at a record low of 0.5% for the 19th consecutive month.

The Monetary Policy Committee’s (MPC) decision had been expected, despite repeated calls from one member to raise rates to combat inflation.

The Bank also said it would not be expanding its £200bn quantitative easing (QE) programme.

Last month, another member of the MPC called for an increase in QE to boost the economic recovery.

The UK economy grew by 1.2% between April and June, but most economists expect growth to have slowed between July and September.

The National Institute of Economic and Social Research said on Thursday that it expected growth of 0.5% in the three months to the end of September.

The manufacturing sector has contributed to this expansion, with figures from the Office for National Statistics, also released on Thursday, showing that UK industrial production and manufacturing output both rose by 0.3% in August.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .