Interest rates held at record low

The Bank of England has announced its decision to hold the interest rate at its current record low.

Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) policymakers said the rate would be held at 0.5 per cent for the eleventh consecutive month. The MPC decision was widely predicted by experts.

The news came alongside the Bank's decision to halt its programme of quantitative easing (QE) - designed to stimulate economic growth in the UK. Under QE, the Bank has pumped £200 billion in newly-created money into the economy. However, it announced last week that it had spent the whole amount set aside for the programme.

The MPC's no-change stance on the interest rate comes after the UK's surprisingly weak climb out of recession in the final quarter of last year.

The UK economy grew by just 0.1 per cent in the last three months of 2009, leading to fears of a so-called "double dip" recession. As a result, some economists predicted that the Bank would consider further QE if the economy continues to struggle.

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