Interest rates to fall to 4.25% before year end

The lender says it expects the recent signs of a slowdown in consumer spending growth to be confirmed in the next few months leaving the Bank of England with little choice but to cut the base rate. And further pressure on the Bank of England to cut interest rates when it meets next week has come in the form of the latest manufacturing report from the Confederation of British industry (CBI) published yesterday. The CBI report reveals a further decline in manufacturing showing domestic demand weakened in the second quarter of 2005 leading business sentiment to continue to fall despite a...