Bank holds rates at 0.5%; No change to QE

The Bank of England has held interest rates at 0.5% and kept its quantitative easing programme at £200bn - despite growing calls for a rate hike amid spiralling inflation.

Today's decision - almost two years to the day since the Bank first cut rates to their historic low in March 2009 - comes as the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee remains deeply divided on policy. Last month, Spencer Dale joined fellow MPC members Andrew Sentance and Martin Weale in voting for a rate hike. With Sentance pushing for a bigger hike than his fellow hawks, the committee was divided in a four-way split. The growing division comes as the committee struggles to balance mounting inflation concerns - with the CPI index hitting 4% in January - with a sluggish economy. Fears the r...