MPC votes unanimously to hold base rate

by Aaron Strutt

Jan 16 2015

Two members of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) have changed their minds and voted against raising base rate from its historic low of 0.5%.

For the past six months, committee members Ian McCafferty and Martin Weale have voted to increase base rate by 0.25%.

The risk of low inflation and the greater geopolitical uncertainly in Greece and Russia, as well as the falling price of oil is a particular concern for the MPC.  

A recent article in The Sunday Times highlighted that this is the longest time the Bank rate has been frozen since the Second World War. It was maintained at 2% from October 1939 to November 1951.

This uncertainty in the economy may lead to base rate being held for some time yet.