Bank of England holds rates at 0.5%

Interest rates have been kept on hold at 0.5% by the Bank of England.

Rates have now been at a record low for 13 months, and are expected to remain at 0.5% in the near-term. The Monetary Policy Committee also made no extension to its quantitative easing programme, currently valued at £200bn. Recent figures suggest the UK economy grew by 0.4% in the final quarter of 2009, revised up from a previous estimate of 0.1%. The Bank of England is likely to await data showing a sustained economic recovery before increasing interest rates.