'The unreliable boyfriend returns': Bank of England leaves rates unchanged on back of weak data

Rates remain at 0.5%

The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has voted to hold interest rates at 0.5% on the back of weaker-than-expected economic data.

Although there was dissent once again from hawkish MPC members Ian McCafferty and Michael Saunders, the other seven members voted to maintain rates at 0.5%. The MPC said it expected inflation, which fell to a 12-month low of 2.5% in March, to "fade a little faster than previously thought".  Furthermore, the MPC is now predicting the UK economy will grow by 1.4% this year, down 0.4% from their expectations in February. This follows disappointing GDP figures in March, when data from the Office for National Statistics revealed the economy grew by just 0.1% in Q1, the slowest rate sinc...