Bank keeps interest rates, QE unchanged

The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has once again kept interest rates unchanged and quantitative easing on hold in a widely expected decision.

At its monthly meeting, the UK's central bank decided to maintain interest rates at the historic low level of 0.5%. The MPC is also holding fire on its quantitative easing programme - which currently stands at £375bn - in the hope that recent inflation increases may be a positive signal for the UK economy. UK inflation remained unchanged at 2.7% in November, after jumping from 2.2% in October. Despite the recent up-tick, the Bank of England's forecast for economic growth in the UK in 2013 is relatively gloomy, ensuring that a rate hike is a long way off. On Monday, Citi predicte...