Interest rates unchanged for third consecutive month

The Bank of England today announced that interest rates will remain at 0.5%.

It is the third consecutive month that the official bank rate has remained unchanged.

The bank's Monetary Policy Committee voted to continue with its quantitative easing program, which will see it inject £125 billion of new money into the economy by purchasing Government and corporate bonds.

Last month, policymakers pledged a further £50 billion to the programme, taking it up to its current sum.

Today, the committee said "the scale of the programme will be kept under review".

However, some economists have said that the figure will have to be raised further.

"The positive mood in the financial markets should not lull anyone into a false sense of security," commented David Kern from the British Chambers of Commerce.

"Tackling the recession must remain the priority, especially with unemployment rising and firms continuing to slash investment.

"The MPC must up the tempo at which they execute quantitative easing while increasing the scheme's size beyond £125 billion. Longer-term inflation threats need to be addressed with a credible exit strategy, but only after the real economy stabilises."