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Bank of England Leaves Base Rate at Record Low 0.25%
This article is an external press release originally published on the Landlord News website, which has now been migrated to the Just Landlords blog.
Yesterday, the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided to leave the base rate at the record low level of 0.25%, in line with analysts’ forecasts.
Bank of England Leaves Base Rate at Record Low 0.25%
However, the MPC did announce that the rate could be cut again further in the year.
Last month, the Bank cut the base rate for the first time since 2009 and approved another £170 billion of monetary stimulus to stop the economy falling back into recession, following the UK’s vote to leave the EU.
However, the Bank of England did hint that a rate cut could come later this year, in order to support a weakening economy.
In the minutes of its latest MPC meeting, the Bank said: “A majority of members expected to support a further cut in bank rate to its effective lower bound at one of the MPC’s forthcoming meetings during the course of the year.”
The MPC also acknowledged that in recent weeks, economic data has been stronger than expected since August’s rate cut.
The Bank’s announcement arrives after recent figures suggest that the economy has so far held up well in the wake of the EU referendum.
Additionally, the founder and CEO of eMoov, Russell Quirk, reports that the property market has continued to strengthen following the Brexit vote.
He comments on the Bank’s decision to leave the base rate at 0.25%: “Today’s decision to leave interest rates frozen at 0.25% will no doubt continue to strengthen an already resilient post-Brexit UK property market. With property prices across the UK continuing their upward trend since the decision to leave the EU, it will come as welcome news for those looking to get a foot on the ladder in an already inflated market, due to the availability of tantalising mortgage products currently on the market.
“It should act as further reassurance to UK buyers and sellers that the property market is in good health and will, no doubt, help to boost this positive sentiment. It will be interesting to see if an increase does come in November, although by that time, any shackles of uncertainty should be well and truly shaken off.”
What do you think of the Bank’s decision?
