New Bank of England member votes to keep rates on hold

by Aaron Strutt

Jun 23 2011

The Bank of England's rate-setting committee has once again voted to keep rates on hold at 0.5% and this is the 27^th consecutive month without change.

Minutes from its June meeting showed that former Goldman Sachs economist Ben Broadbent voted with the majority of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). His predecessor Andrew Sentance had consistently called for a 0.5% rate rise. Many homeowners will be pleased he has taken this initial stance.

Other members' votes were unchanged, giving a seven-to-two majority.

Vicky Redwood of Capital Economics told The Guardian website: “The Minutes of June's MPC meeting suggest that a near-term rate rise is still very unlikely, and that, if anything, more members are starting to contemplate giving the economy more support.

“The fact that new member Ben Broadbent voted with the majority to leave interest rates on hold is a bit of a relief, given that he had sounded a bit hawkish in his testimony to the Treasury committee. The odds of rates rising any time soon therefore look slim, and we still think that QE2 is likely next year if the recovery remains as weak as we expect.”

June 23, 2011