The Bank of England announced yesterday (January 10th) that it will hold interest rates, despite calls for a quarter-point cut.
The base rate will remain unchanged at 5.5 per cent as many financial institutions had forecast.
Interest rates were last reduced in December when the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee made a cut of 0.25 per cent from the previous borrowing rate of 5.75 per cent.
It is now widely anticipated that the Bank will announce cuts to the interest rate in February, which would spell good news for those considering taking out a personal loan.
Ian Kernohan, an economist at Royal London Asset Management, commented: "It is now highly probable that the Bank of England will cut interest rates to 5.25 per cent in February as evidence mounts that the UK economy is faltering."
He anticipated that the MPC could even cut interest rates by as much as 0.5 per cent next month, depending on the economic situation.
