Interest rates unchanged until 2012: economists

A majority of leading economists polled by the BBC expect interest rates to remain unchanged until next year.

In a poll of 32 economists, frequently used by the Treasury to gauge opinion, 26 said rates would not rise this year, and three predicted no rate increase until 2013. More than half expected the Bank rate to rise from its record low of 0.5% to at least 1.5% by the end of 2012. An announcement on interest rates will be made at 1200 BST today, with rates being kept at record lows for more than two years. Minutes from its July meeting showed the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted seven to two in favour of holding rates at 0.5%. Policymakers said there was now a...