The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has once again voted to maintain interest rates at 4.5%, marking the third consecutive month that interest rates have remained frozen.
The move was widely expected amid weakening consumer confidence levels reported yesterday by Nationwide Building Society. The Lender’s Consumer Confidence Index fell by 2 points in October to 92, which it says is a new low, while the main index has fallen by 16% over the last 6 months. Nationwide says the fall in October was driven by fading confidence in the economy and the labour market. The index has now fallen for three consecutive months and by 17 points since April. The longer term trend is also down, with the 3-month average falling from 98.3 to 95.3, indicating a significant ...
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