Bank of England base rate remains at 0.5%
4 February 2010
The Bank of England has kept its base rate at 0.5%, amidst continued uncertainty in the economy.
The decision, announced at noon today, is good news for homeowners with tracker / variable-rate mortgages - but not for savers, who will continue to earn low returns on their savings.
With inflation (CPI) recently rising to 2.9%, the Bank may have been tempted to raise the base rate slightly. But it seems that concerns about the overall state of the economy have convinced the Bank to delay any changes.
The Bank of England first cut its base rate to the all-time low of 0.5% in March last year, in an attempt to help the economy.
However, many economists criticised the move, saying it would not have a significant impact on lending and would hurt savers.
Tags: base rate, mortgage, bank of england, tracker, tracker rate, tracker rate mortgage, mortgage rate, mortgage rates, variable, variable rate, variable rate mortgage
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