BoE retains rate at 4.75 percent

By

The monetary policy committee of the Bank of England voted 8 to 1 to leave interest rates in the UK at their present rate of 4.75 percent, minutes of the most recent meeting reveal. The minutes were released on Wednesday. The minutes also showed that the only member of the committee to vote for a raise in the rates was Andrew Large, who felt the rate should be raised to 5 percent. He also had advocated for a raise in the rates in April. The opinion of the majority of the committee, according to the minutes, is that expectations for the inflation rate are not likely to move very far in either direction from the targeted rate, a feeling that seems to be supported by Aprils Consumer Price Index, which stands at 1.9, unchanged from the last report after a period of raises. The committee also agreed that the most important factors to take into consideration when setting interest rates are inflation figures and consumption rates. This was the ninth month in a row that the interest rate was left unchanged.