The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has again pegged interest rates at 0.5% – maintaining them at the same historic low rate since March 2009.
Some economists predict the Bank may be forced to keep rates at this level until 2013 to avoid derailing any recovery in the economy.
The Bank is having to juggle its commitment to use interest rates to keep inflation around the 2% figure with the need to avoid tipping the fragile economy into a double-dip recession.
With latest figures on the economy showing few signs of growth it is likely to Bank will keep rates at 0.5% at least for the rest of this year.
While this will help hard-pressed home owners and businesses, a new report shows that savers have missed out on £43bn due to low interest rates.
The Bank also said it would not be extending its £200bn programme of quantitative easing, which it has used in the past to pump money into the economy.
