Bank of England base rate kept on hold for 68th month in a row
The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee has once again voted to keep base rate on hold at 0.5% - the 68th consecutive month since the last change. Quantitative easing has also been maintained at £375bn.
According to The National Institute of Economic and Social Research, the first rate rise will be one month after the general election in June 2015. It was previously expecting a rate hike back in February this year.
The European Central Bank has signalled that it could pump €1tn (£782bn) of fresh stimulus into the struggling Eurozone economy. Mario Draghi, the ECB’s president, was quoted as saying: “The governing council has tasked ECB staff and the relevant eurosystem committees with ensuring the timely preparation of further measures to be implemented, if needed.”