Bank leaves rates unchanged

The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has left interest rates on hold at 0.5%.

The MPC has now left rates frozen for nearly two and a half years - the longest period of inertia since World War Two. The committee has also decided not to implement further quantitative easing, leaving the asset purchase programme unchanged at £200bn. The move to keep interest rates at an all-time record low for a 29th consecutive month was widely expected. A survey conducted by the BBC, which polled 32 economists, indicated the majority do not expect interest rates to rise until next year at the earliest. Twenty-six of the economists said rates will not rise this year, and th...