Will UK base rates change in 2010?
A number of analysts are becoming more and more concerned about the state of the UK economy and indeed a number believe that UK base rates are unlikely to change throughout the whole of 2010. This is a very different impression to the one we were given towards the end of 2009 when many analysts believed the recession was effectively over and the UK was slowly making its way back onto the growth path.
While the impact of record low base rates in the UK has obviously helped in the money markets we have yet to see a return to traditional lending levels from the UK banking community. If UK base rates remain at or around 0.5% for the whole of 2010 this will obviously place more and more pressure on UK savers who have seen their incomes slashed over the last two years. It is also noticeable that the Bank of England has become much more concerned and negative in its information output over the last few weeks, very much at odds with the upbeat stance taken in the latter part of 2009.
While ultimately nobody really knows how and when the UK economy will recover, we are again in danger of talking ourselves into a potentially steep and enormously damaging downturn.
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