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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Bank of England votes 8-1 to hold rates at 0.5% | Bank of England votes 8-1 to hold rates at 0.5% |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| UK interest rates have been left unchanged again at 0.5% by the Bank of England's rate-setters. | UK interest rates have been left unchanged again at 0.5% by the Bank of England's rate-setters. |
| Eight of the nine rate-setters on the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted for no change, with one voting for a rise. | Eight of the nine rate-setters on the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted for no change, with one voting for a rise. |
| The Bank rate has been at the record low of 0.5% since March 2009. | The Bank rate has been at the record low of 0.5% since March 2009. |
| A number of economists have been pushing their expectations of the first UK interest rate rise from the end of 2016 into the start of 2017. | A number of economists have been pushing their expectations of the first UK interest rate rise from the end of 2016 into the start of 2017. |
| The Bank said: "All members agreed that, given the likely persistence of the headwinds weighing on the economy, when Bank rate does begin to rise, it is expected to do so only gradually and to a level lower than in recent cycles. | |
| "This guidance is an expectation, not a promise." | |
| Ian McCafferty, one of four external members of the MPC, has been voting for a rate rise for several months and had the same view at the latest meeting. | Ian McCafferty, one of four external members of the MPC, has been voting for a rate rise for several months and had the same view at the latest meeting. |
| Fragility | Fragility |
| The decision to hold the Bank rate comes shortly after weak industrial output figures were released and estimates suggested UK economic growth had slowed. | |
| Production fell 0.7% in November from October - the sharpest fall since early 2013, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics, released on Tuesday. | |
| Also on Tuesday, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) predicted that UK economic growth slowed to 2.2% last year from 2.9% in 2014. | |
| Meanwhile, the world economy remains in fragile condition, reflected by tumbling global markets last week after a run of poor economic data and interruptions to trading on Chinese stocks. | Meanwhile, the world economy remains in fragile condition, reflected by tumbling global markets last week after a run of poor economic data and interruptions to trading on Chinese stocks. |
| Last week, the Chancellor George Osborne warned the UK economy was facing "a dangerous cocktail of new threats" as a result of slow global growth and a drop in oil prices, which is a potential threat to the UK economy because of North Sea oil production. | Last week, the Chancellor George Osborne warned the UK economy was facing "a dangerous cocktail of new threats" as a result of slow global growth and a drop in oil prices, which is a potential threat to the UK economy because of North Sea oil production. |
| The US Federal Reserve increased rates last month for the first time in nearly a decade, as the US economy expanded strongly last year. | |
| Bank of England governor Mark Carney has already said the decision to raise rates in the US was "not decisive" for UK policymakers, stressing that any such move in the UK would be made according to UK economic conditions. |