UK interest rates kept at 0.75%

Monetary policy 'could respond in either direction'

The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has voted to keep interest rates at 0.75% by a majority of 7-2, echoing last month's decision.

At Wednesday's meeting (18 December) the committee also voted unanimously to both maintain the stock of corporate bond purchases and UK Government bond purchases at £10bn as well as maintain the stock of UK government bond purchases at £435bn. The MPC laid out its growth and inflation projections at its November meeting, based on a "deep free trade agreement between the United Kingdom and the European Union". The committee said in its latest report that economic data has been "broadly in line" with its previous projections. However, the MPC warned that monetary policy "could respond i...