Retail figures ease rates pressure

New retail sales figures for May have left the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee none the wiser as to when to go ahead with the first increase in interest rates. There was a big drop in UK consumer spending during that month, which has eased the pressure on the MPC to raise rates. On Wednesday, the minutes from the MPC's meeting earlier this month showed the first vote in favour of raising rates since September last year. However, retail price index figures released by the government on Tuesday showed that apart from the cost of buying houses, the prices of almost...