Base Rate Unchanged At 5.75%

The Bank of England has not changed the base rate, leaving it at 5.75%.

Peter Charles, chief economist at Mortgage Express, says

Money markets and economic analysts are all agreed that the next move in base rate will be a cut but, clearly, the MPC does not want to move too early. Many of the economic data over the past month have confirmed that, away from capital markets and the housing and mortgage sectors, the UK economy has remained remarkably robust, with GDP growth in Q3 having remained at 3.3% pa. Given its focus on the control of inflation, the MPC is not likely to cut base rate until there are clear signs that the economy is slowing. Unless Christmas spending is woefully weak, there is little prospect of rates falling until February.