MPC holds rates at 4.5%

This is the seventh conssecutive month the MPC has voted to hold rates at their current level despite increasing pressure to lower raes coming from lower consumer confidence as reported by Nationwide on Wednesday and concerns voiced by the Halifax that the housing market may be showing sign of slowing further. Mehrdad Yousefi, head of intermediary mortgages at Alliance & Leicester, says: clearer evidence of the underlying strength of household spending and wage settlements is required before the Bank of England is confident that any change in a direction of interest rates will not have a d...