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| Interest rates explained - interactive video | Interest rates explained - interactive video |
| (3 months later) | |
| The Bank of England has held UK interest rates at 0.5% for the 71st month in a row. | |
| The meeting of the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) in January saw all members of the Committee vote to hold interest rates at their current level. | |
| So how do they come to their decision, and what is the effect? | |
| In this interactive video, the BBC's personal finance reporter Kevin Peachey explains what interest rates are all about. | |
| Interest rates are held at 0.5% by the Bank of England. | |
| Remember that's a record low. Rates have been at this level since March 2009. | |
| Time for your economic history lesson with this graph of rates over the years. Top marks if you know what the Bank rate was in 1694. | |
| The Bank of England - a grand structure in the City of London. | |
| In here, the nine-member Monetary Policy Committee meets every month. Its main task is to keep the rate of inflation - which shows the rising cost of living - at a target of 2%. | |
| So who are the seven men and two women making this choice? You can find out here. | |
| You may not have heard of many of them but they have a key decision to make. | |
| Their main tool to control inflation is interest rates. | |
| How this works is explained in this video. | |
| Stick with it and look out for the clever camera work as Declan appears from behind the Bank's pillars. | |
| What does this all mean for you? | |
| Well, savers will tell you that low rates have meant they have been getting a poor return on their money. | |
| It has been better news for borrowers, though. Low rates have meant mortgage costs have been relatively low for some time. |