The Bank of England maintain base rates at 0.5%
The Bank of England has maintained UK base rates at 0.5% at today's Monetary Policy Committee meeting (MPC). There has also been no change in the £200 billion quantitative easing program as many experts had predicted. So what next for the UK economy?
The fact that base rates remain at record lows is obviously a sign of concern in the short to medium term although the fact that the quantitative easing program has not been increased should be seen as a mild positive. It looks as though the Bank of England and the MPC in particular would rather maintain an eagle eye on the UK economy in the short term before making any knee-jerk reaction such as increasing base rates too early or starving the economy of the quantitative easing program.
However, there is speculation in the background that the Bank of England is placing more pressure on the UK government to step forward with a credible plan to reduce the UK budget deficit and improve the UK financial situation. At the moment we are stuck in a politics versus economics game, with a general election just round the corner and the UK government desperate to make the situation in the UK seem as "bright" as possible.
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